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IV PREFACE. 

RuNJEET Singh ; besides that the tract of coun- 
try, now forming the Sikh kingdom, is in the 
high road by which every conqueror from the 
west has penetrated into Hindoostan ; and spe- 
culation is always more or less afloat, as to the 
possibility of a similar conquest being again 
attempted, by the armies of Europe associated, 
or by those of the Northern Autocrat alone, 
whose views of aggrandizement seem insatiable, 
and have long been directed towards Persia and 
the East, 

« 

The time thus appears to be favorable for an 
attempt to offer to the Public some information 
as to the present condition of the Punjab and 
its Ruler : and every one must have felt, that 
there is a blank in the intelligence possessed on 
this subject, not consistent with the general 
state of knowledge, or the eagerness with which 
information, and in particular political and sta- 
tistical information, is in these days poured forth 
upon the Public, by every one who thinks he 
has any thing to communicate, that will be 
listened to or received. The early history of 
the Sikhs is pretty generally known : few are 
ignorant, that they are a religious sect, esta- 
blished in the time of Babur by Nanuj^ Shah, 
the propagator of doctrines of universal toleration, 
and the zealous projector of an union of faith 



PREFACE. V 

between the Hindoos and Mahommedans, on 
the basis of the unity of the Godhead. In like 
manner it would be superfluous to recapitulate 
in a work like this, how the sect was continued, 
and its tenets and creed embodied in sacred 
volumes called Grunths, by a succession of ten 
sainted Gooroos, ending with Gooroo Govind, 
who lived in the time of Aurungzeeb, and who, 
meeting persecution, converted his followers 
from peaceable and industrious citizens, into 
deadly enemies to the Moghul empire and 
Mooslim faith. All this has been fully traced 
and explained in various publications : so also 
the vain attempts of Banda, and other Martyrs 
who followed Gooroo Govind, against the too 
great strength of the Dehlee sovereignty and its 
officers, under the immediate successors of Au- 
rungzeeb : but the rise of the sect, from the dust 
into which it seemed to be beaten down by per- 
secution, to its present splendour of exaltation, 
has not hitherto been made the subject of any one's 
investigation and research ; and the matter con- 
sequently comprised in this volume is given 
confidently as new, and as not to be found else- 
where. It is our duty and our present object to 
explain where and how it has been obtained. 

The British Government has since 1808 been 
the protector of the Sikh territory lying between 

a 2 



II 



VI PREFACE. 

the Sutlej and Jumna : Its officers have been 
appealed to for the adjustment of all disputes 
between the chiefs and their neighbours or 
dependants, and the references to the Supreme 
Council of Government at the Presidency are 
frequent, and involve questions of great intri- 
cacy, making the management of our relations 
in that quarter by no means the least troublesome 
part of the business submitted to its decision. 
Lord William Bentinck was led by the per- 
ception of this circumstance to seek from the 
officers employed in the management of Sikh 
affairs, some general information as to the his- 
tory and condition of the chiefs, and the habits 
and customs of the sect. Accordingly, when 
preparing for his journey to Hindoostan, in 
^\'\^^ ^^ ' 1 830, he called upon Captain Murray, the Poli- 
y tical Agent at Umbala, who had for more than 

fifteen years been employed in conducting our 
relations with the Sikh chiefs on the British side 
of the Sutlej, for a report upon the subject. Cap- 
tain Wade, the Assistant at Loodeeana, who 
had latterly been entrusted with the subordi- 
nate charge, under the Resident at Dehlee, of 
the correspondence with Runjeet Singh, was 
similarly called upon, and both officers submit- 
ted voluminous reports, containing valuable 
information on all the points required. That of 
Captain Murray seemed to be the result of 



\^" 



Vv 



PREFACE. Vll 

much reading and research, and to be prepared 
from materials collected during the whole period 
of his residence amongst the Sikhs. He had 
evidently consulted with care all the Persian 
and other books, that afford any insight into 
the history of the Sikhs, or of the Moghul and 
Afghan officers who came into contact or colli- 
sion with them ; while his account of the rise 
and fortunes of Runjeet Singh appeared to 
have been compiled from the reports and verbal 
information of intelligent persons who had served 
under him, corrected and tested by a laborious 
examination of the Akhbars or native news- 
papers, files of which were recorded in his 
office : a valuable Appendix was added, contain- 
ing the result of his personal observations and 
enquiries into the habits, customs, rules, and 
observances of the Sikhs. The report was 
defective in arrangement, being put together 
with no view to publication, but unfortunately 
this highly esteemed and distinguished officer 
died very soon after the Governor General 
visited those parts, when it was his Lordship's 
intention to have requested him to prepare from 
his expose, a volume calculated to diffuse the 
information he had collected, and to give public 
and general utility to the result of his labours. 

There is no doubt, that, if this officer had 
lived, the work would have been executed in a 



Vlll PREFACE* 



manner worthy of his abilities. His sudden 
death has rendered it necessary, that what he 
left incomplete, and had put together in haste, 
without due order, or arrangement, or regard to 
the accuracies of style, should be completed and 
revised by another hand. The whole of the his- 
torical part of his report has required to be re- 
written : The arrangement has been partially 
altered, and the narrative has been cast into 
chapters in the form it now assumes, besides 
which there is new matter added from Captain 
Wade's report and from other sources. It has 
hence been impossible to place Captain Mur- 
ray's name on the title-page as the author, so as 
to make him responsible, before the public, for 
what he never saw or approved. It will how- 
ever be understood that, except in the tenth and 
eleventh Chapters of Continuation, the task of 
the Compiler of the following pages has been 
merely that of redacteur^ and that the merit of 
having collected the information, which gives to 
the work any interest or value it may possess, 
belongs almost entirely to Captain Murray. 
Indeed, next to the desire to rescue from the 
oblivion of a record-oflSce, information calcu- 
lated to be so extensively useful, and to give to 
the Public, access to what had been collected 
with so much labour and research, the motive 
that has principally influenced the Compiler to 
undertake the preparation of this volume for 



PREFACE. IX 

the press, has been the wish to do honor to this 
distinguished and lamented officer, and to lay 
before his friends, and the world, a lasting testi- 
mony of his worth and talents. 

The task has been performed during the 
leisure of a sea voyage and residence in Van 
Diemen's Land for health. Nothing has since 
been added, and the narrative accordingly termi- 
nates abruptly with the Treaties concluded by 
the British Government with Sindh in 1832. 
It would doubtless have cost little additional 
trouble to have introduced another chapter 
bringing down the course of events to the pre- 
sent day (1834 ;) but to do so would have required 
a resort to records, and to documents not legiti- 
mately within the Compiler's reach, or familiar 
to his recollection, and from their connection 
with passing transactions, not ripe probably for 
public exhibition. To such, therefore, he has 
not sought access, and after all, until the career 
of the Ruler of the Punjab shall have reach- 
its natural term, the close of the narrative must 
have been equally abrupt, wheresoever the 
line had been drawn. It has hence appear- 
ed preferable to let the curtain drop for the 
present, at the marked epoch of the conclu- 
sion of the Treaties referred to, which were 
published in the past year, reserving what may 

b 



X PREFACE. 

follow, to the date of the decease of the promi- 
nent character of the work, to be added here- 
after, in case at any future period the public 
should take sufficient interest in the affairs of 
the Punjab, to call for a renewed publication. 

/ It may be proper to add, that while the first part 

of this work was already in the Printer's hands, 
a Persian account of the affairs of the Sikhs 
in the Punjab, was obligingly communicated to 
the Compiler by Sir Charles Metcalfe. The 
manuscript had been delivered to Sir Charles 

> by its author, Khooshwuqt Raee, who was for 
many years the Agent and Intelligencer of the 
British Government at Umritsur. The narra- 
tive comes down to 1812 only, but is very full 
in respect to the early history of the Sikh Sir- 
dars, and contains much information and useful 
matter, not to be found elsewhere. The oppor- 
tunity which was thus presented of comparing 
an original work of this kind with the Memoir 
of Captain Murray, has not been lost. The 
result has afforded a satisfactory corroboration 
of the accuracy of this officer : indeed, the corres- 
pondence of date and circumstance in many 
important particulars leads almost to the con- 
clusion, that Khooshwuqt Raee's narrative must 
have been amongst the materials from which 
the Memoir was prepared. Some occasional 



PREFACE. XI 

discrepancies and additional facts or illustrations 
have been noted separately at the close of the 
volume. The Compiler's grateful acknowledg- 
ments are particularly due to Sir Charles 
Metcalfe, for the liberal frankness with which 
so valuable a material has been made available 
to improve and correct this publication, and it 
is to the same high quarter, that he is indebted 
for access to the materials from which the Map 
has been constructed, which is prefixed to the 
volume. 

H. T. P. 

Calcutta^ May, 1834. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PA6B 

Affairs of the Punjah on the decline qf the Dehlee Sovereignty to the 
Battle qf Paneeput and separation of the territory from Hindoostan, 1 

CHAPTER II. 

Operations qf the Afghans in the Punjab, The condition of the Sikh 
associations, and the rise and exploits of the principal Chiefs and 
Misuls, The Puryab abandoned to them by the Afghans. Their 
proceedings for the occupation qf the territory, 21 

CHAPTER III. 

Feuds and contentions qf the Sikhs, Rise and fall qf different Chi^s. 
The history of Churut Singh and Maha Singh, ancestors of Rur\jeet 
Singh, traced to the death qf the latter, and Runjeet*s assumption qf 
the direction qf affairs, 38 

CHAPTER IV. 

The early administration of Rutyeet Singh, His aggrandizement at 
the expense qf other Sikh Sirdars, to his treaty with the British 
Gotemment, and exclusion from the countries east qf the SutUj, • • 60 



XIV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

British arrangements with the Chi^s east of the Sutl^, Transactions 
in the Punjab tending to the further aggrandizement qf Rut^eet 
Singhy 71 

CHAPTER VI. 

Marriage qf Khuruk Singh, the heir-apparent of Rur^eet Singh, attend' 

ed by Colonel Ochterlony. Acquisition of the Kohi-noor Diamond 

from Shah Shooja. Severe treatment and flight qf that Prince to 

Loodeeana* Conquest qf Kashmeer, by Futeh Khan Vuzeer, and 

acquisition of Attuk, by Rwyeet Singh, 89 

CHAPTER VII. 

First expedition of Runjeet Singh against Kashmeer, Fails, Failure 
qf Runjeet Singh's health. Expedition against, and capture qf 
Mooltan, The army deprived of its plunder. Death of Futeh Khan, 
Vuzeer qf Kabool, Runjeet Singh*s advance to Peshawar, 104 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Second expedition and conqtiest of Kashmeer, Arrangements for conso- 
lidating the Sikh authority in the kills. Conquests on the Indus, 
Arrival and entertainment qf French Officers. Disgrace and confine- 
ment qf Suda Koonwur, Runjeet* s Mother-in-law, 121 

CHAPTER IX. 

OperaJtions in Peshaumr, Affair with a party qf Moosulman fanatics, 
Mohummud Uzeem Khan retires and leaves Peshawur to Rur^jeet 
Singh, Death of that Chi^-^also qf Sunsar Chund, Disturbances 
in the Gundgurh Mountains, Yar Mohummud confirmed as Governor 
for Ruf^eet Singh at Peshawur, Futeh Singh Aloowala retires from 
the Durbar, Rise of Seyud Ahmed, the Mohammedan Saint and 
reformer, troubles occasioned by him, Unrodh Chund of Kangra 
moved to a discreditable alliance, flies across the SutleJ. His pos- 
sessions seized. Further disturbances and troubles from Seyud 
Ahmed, His defeat and death, • 136 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER X. 



Missim of Lieutenant Bume8 with a present qf dray horses for Run- 
jeei Singh. His journey through Sindh, and up the Indus and Ravee 
to Lahdr. Mission to Lord William Bentinck at Shimla, Meeting 
arranged between the Governor General and Runjeet Singh. Takes 
place in October 1831. Commercial Treaty concluded between the 
British Government and Sindh, • . • . 152 

CHAPTER XI. 

The character and policy qf Rur^eet Singh, His revenues. Strength 
of his army. General observations, 178 

APPENDIX. 

On the Manners, Rules, and Customs qf the Sikhs, By Captain 
W. Murray , , 191 



CHAPTER FIRST.* 



A. D. 1742 to 1761. 



Affairs of the Punjab on the decline of the Dehlee 
Sovereignty to the Battle of Paneeput and separation 
of the territory from Hindoostan. 

Xhe empire founded in Hindoostan by Babur, and 
supported by the vigour and abilities of several genera- 
tions of celebrated Princes, fell speedily to dissolution 
after the accession of MoHUMMUD Shah. The invasion 
of Nadir Shah gave a violent shock to its stability, 
which was already undermined by the growing power of 
the Mahrattas ; and the inroads of the Abdalee, Ahmed 
Shah, though made in support of the faith of Mohum- 
MUD, and successful in checking that reaction of Hindoo 
vigour, which threatened at the time to overwhelm it, 
accelerated nevertheless the fall of the house of Tymoor, 

* This Chapter is entirely from Captain Murray, who has the merit of 
being the^ first to collect and put together in a consistent narrative, the 
loose fragments and materials that exist, in respect to the events in the 
Punjab at this period. 



2 YUHEEA KHAN VICEROY OF LAHOR. A. D. 1742. 

which he uniformly treated with neglect and humiliation. 
The court of Dehlee ceased thenceforward to be looked 
up to as the source of protection, of honors, or of punish- 
ments. The satraps, and officers, nominally acting under 
its authority, assumed every where independence: the 
provinces were dismembered^ and a spirit of disafifection 
was roused in all parts of the empire. The history of 
Hindoostan ceases from this period to be that of any 
ruling dynasty, and must be traced in the detail of the 
events of each province, and in the transactions, by 
which the several Nuwabs, Rajas, and Princes, — the 
sects, nations or associations of chiefs, rose each in turn 
to power, in displacement of the royal authority, and in 
successful rivalry with one another. It is the object of 
the following pages to collect and exhibit in continuous 
narrative, the occurrences of this description in the 
Punjab, and to trace the rise of the chief who now 
sways the destinies of that province, and of a large bor- 
dering territory, with a vigour of authority, unknown to 
any other part of India, not subject to the dominion of 
^Europeans. 

YuHEEA Khan, the son of Zukareea Khan, 
commonly styled Khan Buhadoor, held the viceroyalty 
of Lah6r, when the J4t Zumeendars of the Punjab em- 
poverished by long extortion, and driven at last to 
desperation, took to rapine and plunder for the support of 
themselves and families, and as a bond of union and ex- 
citement against their oppressors revived in their customs 
and ceremonies, the latent flame of the Sikh ritual. They 
proclaimed the faith and tenets of GoviND Singh, the 
last acknowledged Gooroo or spiritual guide of the Sikhs, 
and took the Paiul of initiation into the mysteries of 



JL. n. 1743. THE SIKHS GROW FORMIDABLE. 3 

that religion. The long hair on the head, and flowing 
beard, the entire renunciation of tobacco, and the use 
of the audible salutation of " Wah Gooroo-jee he futehy* 
(victory to Gooroo jee,) proclaimed that the ploughshare 
had been exchanged for the avenger's sword, and that 
the maxims and precepts of the grunth of GooROO 
GoviND had prevailed over the more peaceable doc- 
trines of the vedas and shastras of pure Hindooism. 
The spirit of the revived sect displayed itself at first 
in secret association and isolated acts of depredation. 
Bodies of armed men, in tens and twenties, called 
Dharwee in the dialect of the province, that is, high- 
waymen, infested the routes of communication, attacked 
villages or plundered in towns, according as their local 
connections invited to either mode of seeking wealth or 
the means of support. The early neglect of the ruling 
authority enabled the associations to prosper, and the 
most successful chiefs purchased horses with the proceeds 
of their spoil, and mounted and armed their followers. 
Their example and success made the cause popular with 
the young and adventurous, so that the number who took 
to these courses augmented daily, until the chiefs formed 
their respective dehras or encampments in open defiance 
of the ruling authority, and sought celebrity by bold and 
hardy enterprizes, which gave security in the awe they 
inspired, while the wealth and reputation resulting 
afforded the means of further strengthening themselves. 
The distractions of the Moghul empire, and the intrigues 
and imbecilities of the vice-regal court at Lah6r, gave 
encouragement to the system pursued, not only by the 
neglect to punish, but by the occasional availment of 
the services of individual chiefs, so that many of them 
assumed an organized martial appearance, and not con tent 

A 2 



4 THE SIKHS DEFEATED AND PROSCRIBED. A. D. 1744-4& 

with ravagiDg the open country, approached the sacred 
reservoir of tlie Sikhs at Umritsur and maintained them- 
selves in that vicinity. The different associations were 
united by common interest, no less than by the professioa 
of a new faith ; and a system of general confederation 
for defence, or for operations requiring more than single 
efforts, was earfy arranged between the chiefs. 

' The evil had spread and had acquired some head b€^- 
fore the attention of the Governor Yuheea Khan was 
sufficiently roused to induce him to make an exertion to 
put it down. At length, however, his revenue failing 
from these disorders, he sent out a small detachment of 
government troops under command of Jusput Raeb, 
brother of his Dewan or prime minister, Lukhput 
Raee. They proceeded first against a body of insurgent 
Sikhs who were devastating the country, and driving off 
the flocks and herds in the vicinity of Yumeenabad, 
which lies to the North of Lahdr. The detachment was 
overpowered, and JuspUT Raee being slain, his men 
dispersed. Lukhput Raee Dewan, however, hastened 
from Lah6r to avenge his brother's death, and the insur- 
gents retreated before him into the north eastern corner of 
the Punjab, where he inflicted on them a severe chastise- 
ment. The Dewan brought back with him many prison- 
ers, whose heads were struck off without remorse in the 
Ghora-Nukhas, or horse market, outside the city wall of 
Lah6r. The spot is now called by the Sikhs *' Shuheed- 
gunf" the place of martyrs, in memory of this event, 
and a sumadh ox tomb has been erected there in honor of 
the Bhaee Jaroo Singh, which marks the site. After 
this success a proclamation was issued in the name of 
the Grovernbr Yuheea Khan, denouncing death to all 



A. D. 1745-6. INTRIGUES AT LAiHOR. S 

persons who invoked the name of GooRooGoviND, and 
a reward was offered for the heads of his disciples. This 
rigoar and summary proscription checked the progress 
ef Sikh proselytism, and the enthusiasm of the votaries 
of the Gooroo was considerably diminished. Many cut 
their long hair and curtailed their flowing beards to avoid 
detection and death, and others fled across the Sutlej 
into the adjoining province of Sirhind, where they found 
protection or concealment in the wide wastes which lie 
to the west of Puteeala and Naba. 

Not long after this event, the younger brother of 
YuHEEA Khan, by name Shah Nuwaz Khan, rose 
in insurrection against him, and succeeded in establishing 
himself in the two provinces of Lah6rand Mooltan, mak- 
ing prisoner Yuheea Khan, with all his state officers. 
He nominated a Hindoo, named Kaonra Mul, to be 
Dewan in lieu of Lukhput Raee, but left Adeena 
Beg Khan, who had risen under his father Zukareea 
Khan, and governed with much vigour the difficult 
district of the Jalundhur Dooab, in both civil and mili- 
tary charge of that tract. Yuheea Khan escaped 
from Itabdr, and hastening to Dehlee, laid his com- 
plaint before the Vnzeer, his uncle Kumur-ood-deen 
Khan, who was at the same time privately informed, 
that Shah Nuwaz Khan, in fear of the consequences 
of his act, had opened a correspondence with Ahmed 
Shah Abdalee. The Shah had recently seized Kabool 
and Peshawur in ejection of the Dehlee Soobahdar, 
Nasir Khan, an event that had excited much alarm 
at the capital. The Vuzeer availing himself of his 
relationship appealed to his nephew's sense of honor, and 
addressed to him a strong remonstrance on his defection 



9 LAHOR TAKEN BY AHMED SHAH. A. D. 1747, 

from allegiance^ desiring him not to seek the degrada- 
tion of serving Ahmed, the pusool or mace-bearer of 
Nadir, but to be faithful to the hereditary sovereign of 
his family and race. The young man's pride was touch* 
ed, and although doubtful what might be the issue of the 
complaint of his elder brother, he prepared himself 
to oppose the advance of the Dooranees, and with- 
drew from further correspondence with Ahmed Shah. 
Undeterred by this change of counsels, the Abdalee 
crossed the Indus near the fort of Attuk, in the year 
1747, and sent his domestic priest, Sabir Shah, in 
advance to Lah6r, hoping through his negotiations or 
intrigues to bind Shah Nuwaz Khan to his first offers, 
or at all events to secure a friendly reception to his army. 
Shah Nuwaz, however, was now staunch in his alle- 
giance to Dehlee, and placed himself in the best posture 
of defence his scanty means would permit. He further 
gave to his court a pledge of fidelity by causing the 
agent of the Abdalee to be murdered. Ahmed Shah 
was greatly incensed at this violence done to the person 
of his ambassador and confidential servant, and crossing 
the Ravee, inarched immediately to attack Shah Nuwaz 
Khan in the entrenched position he had taken up undec 
the walls of Lahdr. The resistance offered was slight; 
the defences were soon mastered by the Dooranee war-r 
riors, and Shah Nuwaz escaping fled to Dehlee; the 
city of Labor was shortly after reduced, and its resources 
fell a prey to the Abdalee, who raised there a heavy 
contribution. 

Ahmed Shah when at Dehlee in the train of Nadir 
Shah, had not been an inattentive observer of the state 
of things at ithat Court. The imbecility of Mohummud 



A. D. 1748. HIS FURTHER ADVANCE OPPOSED. 7 

Shah^ the overgrown power, the discords and intrigaes 
of the great Ameers or grandees, and the little obedi- 
ence paid to the royal authority at the capital as well 
as in the interior, had not failed to attract his attention, 
and the confusion likely to follow the departure of the 
invading army, afforded matter of speculation for an 
ambitious man seeking where eventually to push his own 
fortune. The unparalleled success which had attended 
his first efforts in Afghanistan, and the advantage to 
which he systematically turned his present means in 
laying the foundation of future grandeur, encouraged 
him to hope from what he saw and heard of the condition 
of things at Dehlee, that the time was favorable for an 
attempt to erect for himself an empire on the ruins of 
that of the house of TvMOOR. Having mastered Lahdr^ 
therefore, he determined on an immediate advance towards 
Dehlee, and crossing the Beah and Sutlej without oppo-» 
fiition, approached Sirhind. 

The Vuzeer Kumur-ood-deen Khan was not defi-^ 
cient in energy, and made preparation to meet the invader. 
Calling out the principal chiefs of Rajpootana with their 
respective quotas, he placed the king's eldest son Prince 
Ahmed in nominal command, and with this force and the 
troops at the capital took up an intrenched position at 
the village of Munoopoor, nine miles from Sirhind. The 
Abdalee Shah having reconnoitered the position deemed 
himself too weak to attempt a storm of the works : en-* 
camping in the neighbourhood therefore, he directed his 
efforts against the supplies of the Dehlee army, and sent 
detachments to cut off convoys and intercept the commu- 
nications with the capital. This led to continual skir-^ 
mishes and partial engagements^ which amused both 



8 RETREAT OF AHMED SHAH. A. D. 1748* 

armies for a moDth without producing any thiug decisive. 
An event however then occurred that brought about an 
immediate change in the aspect of things. The Vnzeer 
was killed whilst at evening prayers by a random shot 
from the Dooranee artillery, and from that time forward 
there ceased to be any commander in chief in the Dehlee 
camp. The Rajpoot chiefs who had come upon his invi- 
tation, and were held together by his influence and repu- 
tation, feeling confidence in no other leader, began to 
desert the royal standard, and retired to their respective 
estates. The Abdalee hearing of this deemed the moment 
favorable to assume the offensive, and ordered an attack, 
notwithstanding the inferiority of his numbers. A panic 
fell on the imperial army and disorder began to spread in 
the camp. Meer Munoo, however, son of the deceased 
Vuzeer, seized the critical moment, and bringing a body 
of fresh troops to the points assailed, led them himself 
to the charge, and repulsed the Dooranees with consi- 
derable slaughter ; so much so that Ahmed Shah deemed 
it necessary to relinquish his designs for the present, 
and retired precipitately across the Punjab in order to 
repair his losses. His retreat was unmolested, and he 
recrossed the Attuk without making any effort to main- 
tain his footing at Lah6r. The Punjab was thus reco- 
vered for the Moghul, and the Government of Lah6r and 
Mooltan was conferred by the Dehlee Court on Meer 
Munoo, with the title of Mooyyunool-Moolk, in re- 
ward andacknowledgmentof his service on this important 
occasion. 

The invasion of the Abdalee, and the occupation of 
the forces on both sides in the struggle for empire 
on the plains of Sirhind, were favorable to the further 



A. D. 1748. AHMED SHAH RETURNS. 9 

rise of the Sikhs, whose depreciations were for the 
interval unchecked, and who again showed themselves 
by day, and ventured even to satisfy their religious pre- 
judices by stolen visits to the shrines of their faith at 
Umritsur. The new Governor of Lahdr, Meer Munoo, 
confirmed Kaonra Mul in the ojBSce of Dewan, and 
found the disorders created by these associations, and by 
fanatics of the sect who sprung up in numbers, to be one 
of the first objects requiring his attention. A small party 
of Sikhs had the audacity to throw up a mud work which 
they called Ram-Rounee, (but which having been since 
enlarged is now called Ramgurh) in the district and im- 
mediate vicinity of Umritsur, and Sikh plunderers 
scoured the country in all directions. Meer Munoo 
surrounded and captured Ram-Rounee, and stationed de- 
tachments to preserve the peace of the country, who had 
orders to detain all Sikhs, and to shave their heads and 
beards. By these energetic measures the public confi- 
dence was restored: the Sikhs were again compelled to 
fly the country or hide their heads, and proselytes to 
their faith and habits became more rare. 

Ahmed Shah Abdalee had retired only to recruit his 
strength, and was by no means inclined to relinquish his 
designs on Hindoostan. In the following season from 
that of his first invasion, that is, after the close of the 
rains of 1748, he again crossed the Indus, and inter- 
rupted all Meer Munoo's plans for establishing himself 
in his government and better ordering its administration. 
Being apprehensive that his force was too weak to resist 
the invader, he applied to Dehlee for reinforcements, and 
in order to gain time sent a mission to the Abdalee camp 
to ofier terms of compromise and negociate for the Shah's 

B 



10 ENTERPRIZE OF SHAH NUWAZ KHAN. A. D. 1749, 

retirement. He followed up this measure by himself 
moving out of Lah6r, and pitched his camp at Sondhura^ 
on the south bank of the Chun^b. This state of prepara- 
tion and the known character of the Lah6r viceroy 
deterred the Abdalee for the time from attempting to 
force his way into Hindostan. He was content there- 
fore to accept a promise of the revenue of the four 
districts, Pursuroor, Goojrat, Se^l-Kot, and Aurungabad, 
which had formerly been assigned to Nadir Shah, and 
then retraced his steps toKabooI. 

This success of Meer Munoo and the credit resulting 
excited envy in the grandees at Dehlee, and instead of 
meeting further reward from the court, an intrigue there 
deprived him of the government of M ooltan, which was 
conferred on Shah Nuwaz Khan. The viceroy in 
possession, however, was not of a temper to submit 
patiently to such supercession, and he detached his 
minister Kaon R A Mul to oppose the new governor. 
Shah Nuwaz Khan advanced to the frontier of Mool- 
tan, with a force collected for the purpose of securing his 
investiture, but finding himself overmatched could pro- 
ceed no farther. For about six months he maintained 
himself on the frontier without any thing decisive occur- 
ring, but at the end of that time he was induced to 
hazard a battle with theDewan, in which he was defeated 
and slain. Meer Munoo created Kaonra Mul Raja 
for this service, and invested him with the subordinate 
charge of Mooltan and the adjoining districts. 

As might be expected, Meer Munoo failed to remit 
to Kabool the revenues of the four districts stipulated, and 
the Abdalee Ahmed Shah had thus a pretext for again 



A, D. 1751, AHMED SHAH'S THIRD INVASION. 11 

crossiDg the Indus, which he did in the season 1751-2, 
and advanced to the right bank of the Chunab. SooKH 
Jeewun, a Hindoo, was sent thence to Lah6r to demand 
thefuifilnientof the engagement. Meer MuNOO replied, 
that the promise had been made in the exigency of the 
moment, and he did not look upon himself as bound to 
abide by the strict letter, but free to act according to cir- 
cumstances. He offered, however, to pay now what might 
be due, upon the condition of the Dooranee army being 
immediately withdrawn. Not expecting this offer to be 
accepted, Meer Munoo called in Adeena Beg Khan 
and Raja Kaonra Mul with their respective forces, to 
Labor, where an intrenched camp was prepared at Sbah- 
durra in the environs. He himself advanced to meet the 
Abdalee, and retired before him as he moved eastward un- 
til both chiefs approached Labor, when the viceroy entered 
his entrenched position under the walls of the city. For 
four months he maintained himself in this post, and was 
proof against every endeavour of the Shah to entice him 
out of his entrenchment. The blockade maintained was 
however strict, and supplies then began wholly to fail. 
The only food or forage for the horses and ammunition 
cattle consisted of chopped straw from the roofs of huts 
and bazars, and grain and flour were selling at an exor- 
bitant price. A council of war was called in this emer- 
gency, when Adeena Beg gave it as his opinion that as 
no succour or reinforcement could be expected from 
Dehlee, an action ought to be risked before their pro- 
visions wholly failed, as might be expected in a few days, 
if the blockade continued. Raja Kaonra Mul was 
opposed to this advice, he observed that the Viceroy's 
troops were mostly raw levies, who were no match in the 
field for the hardy veterans of the Shah. That the 

» 2 



12 MEER MUNOO DEFEATED. A. D. 176^. 

country for a wide space ronnd had been foraged and 
wasted, and the distress for provisions was not less in 
the Dooranee camp than in their own — that in twenty 
days more the hot weather would set in, when the 
northern troops of the Shah would find the sun and wind 
intolerable in the plains, and hence would be compelled 
to retreat or to attack them in their lines to disadvantage. 
There can be no doubt that the advice of the Hindoo was 
the preferable and more prudent course, but the viceroy 
was young, and not free from the impatience and impe* 
tuosity of youth, and the opinion of Adeena Beg fell 
more in accordance with his own disposition. Early in 
the morning therefore of the 12th April 1752, his army 
moved from its lines and took up ground on an elevated 
spot marked by an old brick-kiln. The Shah prepared 
immediately for action. His artillery was ordered to 
advance, and a cannonade was kept up between the two 
armies until the afternoon, when the Shah observing 
some confusion ordered a charge by a select body of 
cavalry, which was so far successful as to induce Meer 
MuNOO to retire again within his entrenchments. In the 
retreat Raja Kaonra Mul's elephant chanced to tread 
on an old grave, the earth of which sinking strained and 
nearly disabled the animal. Before the Mahout could 
extricate him, the Raja was overtaken and slain by a 
Dooranee horseman, and his loss, when it came to be 
known in the entrenched camp, occasioned a panic and 
desertion so general, that the viceroy was compelled, by 
diminished numbers, to retire within the city wall. In this 
exigency Adeena Beg Khan abruptly withdrew with 
his troops, and Meer Munoo, finding the fortifications of 
the city out of repair and untenable, was induced to yield 
to circumstances^ and tendered his submission to the Shah. 



4. D. 1752. LAHOR AND KASHMEER TAKEN. 18 

The Abdalee was well pleased so to close the campaign : 
he sent his principal officer, JuhanKhan, into the city, 
to conduct the viceroy to his presence, and treated him 
with all courtesy and respect, declaring his admiration of 
the determined spirit, conduct and deportment displayed 
by him on all occasions. He exacted a large sum of 
money from him for the expences of the campaign, and 
then reinstated him as viceroy on his own part both of 
Labor and Mooltan. 

Before retiring to his own dominions, Ammed Shai^ 
determined on the occupation of Kashmeer, and a strong 
detachment was sent thither under command of Ubdool- 
LA Khan, who succeeded in penetrating to the valley, 
and establishing the Shah's authority there without opposi- 
tion. The Hindoo, Sookh-Jeewun, a Khutree of Ka- 
bool, was selected for the government, and the rainy 
season being now near, the Shah re-crossed the Indus, 
and carried back his army to Kabool. 

Mber Munoo did not long survive these events : he 
was killed by a fall from his horse, whereupon his widow, 
a woman of spirit and address, proclaimed her infant son 
as successor in the viceroyalty, and succeeded in estab- 
lishing an administration in his name. Before ten 
months had expired, however, this hope was likewise 
cut off, the infant dying of the small pox. The Begum 
then proclaimed her own name, and dispatched agents to 
Dehlee and to Kabool to procure her acknowledgment. 
To the Vuzeer at Dehlee her daughter was offered in 
marriage, and he came to the banks of the Sutlej to cele- 
brate the nuptials. By these acts the Begum secured 
herself against present supercession, and her authority 



]4 MBER MUNOO'S WIDOW SUCCEEDS HIM. A. D, 1753-64. 

was displayed in an act of cruelty, the motives of which 
have left a taint of scandal on her reputation. Upon the 
accusation of having designs upon the viceroyalty, Mber 
Bhskareb Khan, an influential officer of thelate vice- 
roy, was seized by her order, and carried into the interior 
apartments, where he was so severely beaten with shoes 
and sticks as to expire under the punishment. The 
Begum's personal concern in such an act gave credit to 
the imputation, very generally believed at the time, that 
it was committed in revenge for some personal disap- 
pointment of a kind never forgiven by a woman. 

A female viceroy was not likely to display much acti- 
vity in suppressing associations like those of the Sikhs, 
which meddled not with her ease and pleasures at the 
seat of government. Their number and audacity accord- 
ingly increased rapidly, and bands of these bearded depre- 
dators were continually to be seen, traversing the various 
districts of the Punjab, sweeping ofi* the flocks and herds^ 
and laying waste the cultivation, unless redeemed by a 
prompt contribution. Disorder, anarchy, and confusion 
gained head in the province, as in all other parts of Hin- 
doostan. 

It was not until after an interval of four years, that 
is, in the season 1755-6, that Ahmed Shah Abdalee 
appeared again in the field. In all his previous incursions 
he had been met by the energy of local governors, and the 
Debtee court had made efibrts, or at least had displayed 
some interest and anxiety in checking his advance. 
On the present occasion, such was the condition of wreck 
and revolution to which the empire was reduced, that no 
one ofibred any where to impede his march^ and he 



A. D. 1756. AHMED SHAH MA.RCHES TO DEHLEE. 16 

traversed the Punjab and entered even the imperial city 
without experiencing the smallest opposition. His 
detachments plundered Muthra and threatened the city 
of Agra, and the Shah having formed a matrimonial con- 
nexion with the family of Tymoor, laid the capital under 
heavy contribution, and confiscated to his own use the 
property of the grandees and principal inhabitants. His 
cupidity being thus satisfied, he retired, leaving the 
throne of the Moghul in the same weak hands, and 
helpless condition in which he found it. But he seized 
on the Punjab and Sirhind, and gave the government of 
both provinces to his son Tymoor, with whom he left 
bis confidential officer Juhan Khan and a detachment 
of troops of no great strength, and then returned to 
Kabool. 

Since the death of MfiER MuNOO, Adeena Beg 
Khan had assumed entire independence in his subordi- 
nate government in the Jalundhur Dooab, and had appro- 
priated the revenues to his personal use and in providing 
the means of maintaining himself. One of the first acts 
of the young Prince Tymoor was to summon this chief 
to Lahdr as a dependant of his government. The wary 
veteran however evaded prompt compliance, alleging the 
necessity of his presence in his districts to check the 
increasing audacity of the Sikhs who were encamped in 
his vicinity, and, were he to desert his post, might secure 
a permanent hold in the country. The Afghan Prince 
not satisfied with this excuse, sent a detachment of his 
troops to seize Adeena Beg, whereupon the latter 
strengthened himself by association with the Sikhs, of 
whom he took a considerable body into pay, and with 
them retired before the Afghans into the northern 



16 ADEENA BEG SUCCOURED BY HOLKUR. A. D. 1756-57. 

hills. Being now fully committed with the Dooranees^ 
his mind, fertile in resources, sought the means of suc- 
cour and relief in a quarter, which would not readily 
have occurred to another. He applied to the Muhrattas^ 
whose reputation for enterprize and daring adventure 
was then high, and whose chiefs were at the time encamp- 
ed near Dehlee. He stipulated for the payment of 9 
daily sum for their aid, and pointed out the rich harvest 
of spoil that was within their reach. The expedition was 
entered upon with alacrity, and MuLH AR Rao Holkur, 
with some other chiefs of that nation, marched immediate- 
ly for the Punjab, where they were joined on passing the 
Sutlej by Adeena Beg, with a swarm of Sikh plunderers, 
and the whole advanced rapidly on Lahdr. The Prince 
Tymoor and Juhan Khan were unable to stem this 
torrent of invasion, and retired precipitately to the Indus. 
Their retreat was harassed by frequent attacks, and most 
of their baggage taken. The Muhrattas then overran the 
whole country, and their main body returned to Dehlee, 
but a detachment of this nation was left in the occupation 
of Labor. 

Adeena Beg Khan did not long survive this event. 
He died in 1758, having latterly, and indeed for a long 
time, played a very conspicuous part in the diplomacy of 
the Punjab and Hindoostan. His address, experience, 
and extensive knowledge recommended him early to the 
notice of the viceroys, who in succession ruled Lah6r: 
under them he rose through the gradations of ojQGice, 
nntil his services were at last recompensed by the dele- 
gated administration of a troublesome but very fertile 
region. During a season of unusual disorder and diffi* 
culty, he maintained his station^ and kept his territory 



A. D. 1758. HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER. 17 

prosperous and profitable : while in the midst of strug- 
gles for dominion between contending nations, and in the 
conflict of parties, and the intrigues of chiefs, all stronger 
than himself, he contrived to acquire something at every 
change, and availed himself of every opportunity to ag- 
grandize and strengthen his power, with a depth of cunning, 
and a readiness which gained for him a high reputation 
for wisdom. He was a master of the arts and shifts of 
Indian diplomacy. The Sikhs he amused, and secured 
immunity from their depredations, by occasionally paying 
for their services, and he would even buy their forbear- 
ance when too weak to coerce them. When his ruin was 
determined upon by the Abdalee Afghans, he bribed 
the Muhrattas to enter the field against them, and by this 
means eflfected the expulsion of the prince, who drove 
him to such extremity, together with his minister, whom 
be suspected as the instigator of the mischief. How he 
would have played his part in the great struggle impend- 
ing between the Muhrattas and Abdalee Afghans can 
only be surmised, death having saved him from the 
vengeance or politic mercy of the Shah. He left no issue 
or successor to perpetuate his name and authority, but his 
memory lives in the Punjab, and he is respected even by 
the Sikhs as the last of the Moghul rulers in their country. 

The Muhrattas were now the ruling power of Hindoo- 
Stan ; their forces traversed the country, from the 
Dukhun to the Indus, and Himalaya, and no one ven- 
tured to take the field against them. The Moosulman 
Soobahdars, who had asserted independence, in the deca- 
dence of the Moghul empire, trembled for their prin- 
cipalitiesy and seemed to have no alternative but sub- 
mifsioDi and the payment of Chout to this upstart 

c 



18 RE- APPEARANCE OF AHMED SHAH. A. D. 1759. 

Hindoo sovereignty, or absolute extinction. In this 
state of things the re-appearance of the Abdalee, 
Ahmed Shah, east of the Indus, was hailed by a large 
party in Hindoostan as a source of salvation, and 
welcome succour. Shooja-ood-Doula, in Oudh, the 
celebrated Nujeeb-ood-Doula, who governed Dehlee 
and the Northern Dooab, the Rohilla Chiefs, and all 
the Mohummedan families settled in the Dooab, or 
west of the Jumna, prepared to range themselves 
under the standard of the Shah, and to fight the great 
battle for their faith and independence under his leading. 
The Muhratta detachment retired before the Shah from 
Labor to Dehlee, pillaging and laying waste the country 
as they went. The fertile plains of Sirhind conse- 
quently exhibited an appearance of desolation, that 
induced the Abdalee, as well for the convenience of 
obtaining supplies, as to unite with the Mohummedan 
chiefs of Hindoostan, to cross the Jumna at Boorea into 
the Dooab. Here he fell in with and overpowered a 
Mahratta detachment under Duttajee Sindheea who 
was slain, and Mulhar Rao Holkur was overtaken 
soon after by two Afghan generals, who routed his troops, 
and had nearly taken the chief himself by surprise. 
When the rainy season approached, the Abdalee can- 
toned his army in the Dooab between Sekundra and 
Anoopshuhur, the country round Dehlee, and to the west 
of the Jumna, having been completely ravaged and laid 
waste by the Muhrattas. 

The court of Poena on being apprised of the arrival 
of the Shah, and of the defeat of Duttajee Sindheea 
and Mulhar Rao Hulkur, prepared for a great 
efiTort to maintain their supremacy in Hindoostan. The 



A. D. 1769. OPPOSED BY THE MUHRATTAS. 19 

retainers of the state were called out, and an immense 
army advanced towards Dehlee, under the command of 
SuDASHEEo Rao Bhao, commonly called the Bh^o, 
with whom went WiswAS Rao, the Peshwa's eldest 
son, and the heads of all the principal Muhratta families. 
On the march the chiefs in advance fell in and 
swelled the train, and the whole reached Dehlee, pillag- 
ing without remorse as they went, and encountering no 
where any opposition. 

The Jumna which divided the two armies was still 
unfordable, and the Bh&o, after a short halt at Dehlee' 
moved northward to Kurnal, where his army was occupi- 
ed for a few days in the siege of Koonjpoora, the 
possession of a Puthan family, on the west bank of the 
Jumna. The place was taken by storm after an obsti- 
nate resistance by the head of the family, Nijabut 
Khan, who was slain in the last assault. The Mahratta 
army then moved back on Paneeput, and allowed the 
Shah to ford the Jumna with all his cavalry, on the 23d 
of October. The Bh&o judged himself to be unequal 
to cope with the Shah in the open field ; he accordingly 
threw up intrenchments and took up a position about the 
town of Paneeput, and there waited the attack of the 
enemy. The Abdalee strengthened by the junction of 
the confederate forces of Oudh, Rohilkhund, and of all 
the Mohammedan Chiefs of upper Hindoostan, surround- 
ed the Mahrattas, and aimed to cut off the Bhdo's sup- 
plies. For three months, the two armies lay close to 
each other, occupied in skirmishes and partial actions, 
and the Shah maintained his blockade. At the end of 
this time, want began to be felt in the Bh&o's lines, and 
the distress from this cause increased to such a degree 

c 2 



20 BATTLE OP PANEEPUT. A. D. 1761. 

as to compel the Bhdo to risk an action. On the 7th of 
January 1761» he led his army oot of their intrenched 
position at day break, and prepared for the final struggle. 
The Muhrattas were entirely defeated, and both WisWAS 
Rao and the Bh&o were slain in the action, with many 
other principal Muhratta chiefs. There have been few 
battles attended with greater carnage than history as- 
signs to this. The lowest computation of the loss sus- 
tained by the Muhrattas, fixes the number engaged at 
200,000, of whom more than half were slain in the action 
or pursuit : and, considering how far from their own 
country they fought, and that the intermediate tract was 
mostly hostile, our wonder at the loss will be lessened. 
But the moral efibct on the Muhratta nation was greater 
even than the actual loss. Their entire force had been 
put forth for the struggle, and defeat was for the moment 
felt as the annihilation of their ambitious hopes, and the 
destruction of their power. 

The Abdalee remained for a few days after this im- 
portant victory in the city of Dehlee regulating the affairs 
of Hindoostan. He then returned through the Punjab 
to Kabool, appointing Khaja Obyd and Zyn Khan 
to be his governors in Lah6r and Sirhind, which he de« 
signed permanently to annex to his own dominions. 



CHAPTER SECOND.* 



A. D. 1761 to 1771. 



Operations of the Afghans in the Punjab. The condition^ 
of the Sikh associations, and the .rise and exploits of 
the principal Chiefs and Misuls. The Punjab aban-*. 
doned to them by the Afghans. Their proceedings for 
the occupation of the territory. 

iV.HMED Shah made no stay in the Punjab, and troubled 
himself little with the disorders that prevailed in its inter- 
nal administration. The governor he left at Lah6r was 
little better than the military commandant of an out-post, 
oollecting revenues and levying contributions as he could, 
for the support of his detachment, and in aid of the gene- 
ral resources of the Shah. The imperfect hold thus 
retained of this territory, and the weakness of the detach- 
ment left with the Afghan governor, Khaja Obyd, were 
highly favorable to the Sikhs, who throve upon the dis- 
order which prevailed ; and, in the neglect with which 
they were treated, secured strong holds and fastnesses in 
different parts of the country, and added greatly to their 

* In this Chapter several facts have been added to Captain Murray's 
Narrative, on the authority of the Report of Captain Wade, v^rhose infor- 
mation as to the origin of the family of Runjeet Singh, will have been 
derived from the most authentic sources. 



22 RUNJEET SINGH'S ANCESTORS. A. D. 1750. 

power and resources. Amongst others, the ancestors of 
RuNJEET Singh, the present ruler of the Punjab, ap- 
peared early in the field as leaders of enterprize, and 
acquired a reputation that was daily on the increase. The 
family boasts of no antiquity, the first of whom any tradi- 
tionary recollection is preserved was a petty Zumeendar, 
named Desoo, a Jath, of the SAnsee tribe, who resided in 
a village of the district of Manjha, called Sookur-chuk. 
His patrimony was confined to three ploughs and a well, 
and little is known of him, except that he was the father 
of NoDH Singh, whose son Churut Singh, founded 
the fortunes of the family, by establishing a Surdaree 
or chieftainship, which his descendants, Muha Singh 
and Runjeet, have improved into the sovereignty over 
a wide and fertile territory, 

Nodh Singh was the first of the family who embraced 
the Sikh religion : he sought in marriage the daughter of 
Goolab Singh, a Zumeendar of Mejithia, who was 
already initiated in the rites of that faith, and the Pahul 
was proposed as the condition of the nuptials. Nodh 
Singh yielded; and, after his marriage, gave up his 
father's plough, and purchasing, or otherwise procuring a 
horse, joined the association headed by Kapoor Singh, 
of Goojrat, which bore the title of FyzooUapoorea. 

Nodh Singh is stated to have died in 1750; when 
Churut Singh, following his father's courses, but dis- 
daining to serve in a subordinate capacity, associated with 
himself his brothers-in-law DuL Singh and JodhSingh, 
and with their help, raised some followers, whom he main- 
tained and kept together by successful predatory enter- 
prizes. His wife was of Gujuraolee, a village lying not 



A. D. 1762. THE SIKHS MAKE HEAD AGAINST THE )(FGHANS. 23 

far north of Labor, and through the influence of her 
family, he obtained leave to erect in its vicinity a small 
mud fort to serve as a place of safe custody for bis plun- 
der, and of retreat for his family and followers. The post 
was convenient, from its vicinity to Labor, as a rallying 
point for other Sikh associations ; and in 1762, it attracted 
the attention of Khaja Ob yd, who marched with a force 
to ncKe it and eject Churut Singh from the neighbour- 
hood. The Sikhs, however, attached importance to the 
post, and a large body tendered their aid for its defence. 
When the governor approached Gujuraolee, they threw 
a select body into the gurhee, and hovering about, watch- 
ed his camp. Khaja Obyd had entertained for the 
enterprize a number of Sikh troops, who opened a clan- 
destine correspondence with their brethren, and ultimately 
deserted in a body to the enemy. The governor's other 
troops immediately took panic and dispersed, and Khaja 
Obyd himself had barely time to mount a fleet horse and 
escape, when the Sikhs broke into his camp and plunder- 
ed all his baggage. 

After this defeat, the Afghan governor dared scarcely 
to show himself beyond the walls of Labor; and the Sikh 
Dul, or assembly of chiefs and followers, was publicly 
held at Umritsur, where the bathings and other ceremo- 
nies of the Dewalee being performed, it was resolved to 
invest Jundeeala, a placeheldbyNERUNJUNEEGooROO, 
a Hindoo, who had made submission and taken service 
with Ahmed Shah, and hence had incurred the ven- 
geance of the votaries of GooROO Govind. 

The report of these events roused the attention of 
\hmed Shah, who, in November 1762, again appeared 



24 AHMED SHAH RETURNS. A. O. 1763. 

on the Indus. From thence he made^ with a select 
detachment, one of those long and rapid marches, for 
which he was celebrated, in the hope of surprising the 
Sikhs, who had invested, and were still employed in 
the siege of Jundeeala. They obtained, however, a 
few hour's notice of his approach, and breaking ap their 
camp, dispersed in different directions, most of them 
flying beyond the Sutlej. The Shah rejoined his main 
body at Lahdr, and ordered his governor of Sirhind to 
watch the Sikhs, and call out the several Moosulman 
Sirdars and Jageerdars, with their contingents, to operate 
against them. The Shah was informed by express soon 
after this, that the main body of the Sikhs was at Kos 
Buheera, on the south bank of the Sutlej, (whose course 
from Feerozpoor is from east to west,) and that Zyn 
Khan, with the Baroach and Muler Kotila Moosulmans, 
was watching their movements. The Shah immediately 
prepared a strong detachment of cavalry provisioned for 
three days ; and, leaving Lahdr as secretly as possible, 
led them himself against the enemy. On the evening of 
the second day he crossed the Sutlej, and made a halt 
of a few hours only at Loodeeana. By sunrise on the 
following morning lie joined Zyn Khan, and found him 
already engaged with the Sikhs, for these latter trusting 
to their great numerical superiority had thought to over- 
power the Sirhind governor, and attacked him in his 
camp. The appearance of the high sheep-skin caps of 
the Shah's body-guard and northern troops, gave ttn 
immediate turn to the battle, and the Sikhs were broken 
and fled. The pursuit was continued west as far as 
Hureeana-Burnulla, and the slaughter was great. It has 
been estimated at from 25 to 30,000 men, but CaptMn 
Murray states he was assured by an old Moosulman of 



Jk. B. 1762. EXCESSES AGAINST THE SIKHS. 25 

Maldr Kotila, who was in the action, that the entire 
killed and wounded of the Sikhs in this battle did not 
exceed 12,000. The want of master-rolls and the irregular 4 
formation of Indian armies, which are always mere asso^* 
ciations of chiefs, all representing their force larger than 
the reality, must necessarily make it difficult, if notimpos- 
sible, ever to ascertain the real loss sustained in action. 
This disaster is however characterised in Sikh tradition, 
as the GhuloO'Ghara or bloody carnage; Ala Singh, 
of Puteeala, chief of the Phool family, was made prisoner 
at Bnrnala, and carried by the Shah to Lahdr. There, 
at the intercession of Shah Wuleb Khan the minister, 
he was released npon an engagement to pay tribute, 
and his manly conduct and demeanour having secured 
him the Shah*s favor, he was honored with the title of 
Raja, and dismissed with a rich dress of state. 

The Shah in irritation against the sect for the trouble 
they had given iiim, not less than from bigotted zeal against 
all idolaters and infidels, signalized his march through 
Umritsur, by the demolition of the Sikh temf^le of Hur- 
mnndur and of the saored reservoir. The first was blown 
up with gnn-powder, s^d the reservoir, beisides being de- 
faced and filled np as far as materials and time permit- 
ted, was poUated with the blood and entirails of cows 
and bullocks^ a sacrilege Bven greater in the eyes of the 
schismatic disciple of GooROO Govind than of the 
Qfthodox Brahminical Hindoo. 

The Shah's attention was now turned towards Kash- 
meer, where his Governor Sookh Jeewun had for 
nine years conducted the administration without remitr 
ting any portion of the revenues to the Royal treasury. 

D 



26 THE SIKHS TAKE SIRHIND A. D. 1769>« 

The co-operation of Run j est Dbo» Riga of Jammoo, 
having been secured with some difficalty» a strong de- 
tachment was sent from Lah6r ander command of NooR- 
OOD-DEEN, and the Raja conducted it across the Peer 
Punjal mountains into the valley, which submitted after 
a slight resistance. Sookh Jeewun being made pri- 
soner, was punished with the loss of his eyes. Ahmed 
Shah having made these arrangements to secure his 
territory east of the Indus, returned to Kabool at the 
end of the year 1762. He left Kabulbb Mul, a 
Hindoo, as his Governor of Lah6r. 

No sooner had the Abdalee departed, than the Sikhs 
re-appeared in the field. A Goormutta, or council of the 
sect, was held publicly at Umritsur, and a large body of 
them marched thence to Kusoor, (or K&soor,) which was 
taken and sacked, and yielded a considerable booty. 
Elate with this success they collected a larger force, and 
determined on the attack of Sirhind. They appeared 
before the place with 40,000 men, who encamped in two 
divisions, to the east and west of the town. In the 
month of December 1763, the Governor and Zyn Khan 
moved out to risk an action with the Sikhs* The forces 
joined battle at Peer Zyn Munayra, a village about seven 
miles east of Sirhind, when fortune favored the Sikhs, 
and the Moosulman leaders were slain. The town of 
Sirhind was then carried, and most of the buildings 
razed to the ground, the Sikh animosity against t)^e 
place being excited by the recollection, that the wife and 
infant son of their saint GooROO GoviND had there 
been inhumanly put to death by VuzEER Khan, the 
governor for Aurungzeeb. Not a house was left standing, 
and it is even to this day deemed a meritorious act by a 



A. D. 1764. AND LAHOR. 27 

Sikhy to pull down three bricks from any standing wall of 
Sirhind, and convey them to the Satlej or Jamna to be 
cast there into the river. 

The audacity of this enterprize recalled Ahmed Shah 
to Lahdr, he re-appeared there in Jannary 1764, being 
his seventh invasion of Hindoostan. His arrival was the 
signal for the Sikhs to disperse and seek refuge in the 
deserts west and south of Puteeala and Nabah. Raja 
Ala Singh, of the former place, had obtained the ruins 
of Sirhind from the Joomla chief, BHA£fi Boodha 
Singh, to whom the town had been assigned by unani- 
mous vote of the chiefs who made the capture, the Raja 
giving him a few productive villages in exchange. By 
the influence of the minister, Shah Wulbb Khan, he 
obtained from the Shah a confirmation of his tenure. The 
disorders which prevailed were matter of deep regret to 
the Abdalee, but the means or time was wanting for their 
effectual cure, and he retraced his steps to Kabool, 
without having done anything for the punishment or 
suppression of the Sikhs. He was no sooner gone, than 
they collected again, and ventured to attack Lah6r. 
Kabuleb Mul was compelled to fly, and the city being 
mastered, was parcelled out by the captors in three divi- 
sions, which were assigned respectively to Lehna Singh, 
GoojUR Singh, and Sobha. Ahmed Shah returned 
to punish this outrage, and advanced as far as the Sutlej , 
the Sikhs flying before him to the deserts south of the 
Ingraon, and no enemy appearing on whom he could 
wreak his vengeance. On his arrival at the Sutlej, Umur 
Singh, the grandson of Raja Ala Singh, then recent- 
ly deceased, waited upon him, and received investi- 
ture with the title of Mnha-Raja-Rajugan-Muhindnr 

D 2 



S8 DEATH OF AHMBD SHAH. Jk. D. 1T79. 

Bohadar, which title is now borne by the head of the 
Puteeala family. In the midst of these operations aDasta, 
or body of 12,000 of the Shah*s army, suddenly quitted his 
camp without orders, and marched back to Kabool. The 
Shah followed to reclaim or punish them, but his retreat 
was harrassed by parties of Sikhs, who plundered much 
of his baggage, and hung on his .flanks and rear until he 
had passed the Chunah. 

The Shah having thus quitted the field, the Sikhs 
remained undisputed masters of the Punjab, and spread- 
ing ovec the country occupied it as a .permanent inhe- 
ritance, every Sirdar, according to his strength, seiaing 
what fell in his way, and acknowledging no superior, 
nor submitting to the control of any body,, nor to any 
constituted authority whatsoever. Their proceedings were 
unmolested by any further interference from the. west, 
where Ahmed Shah continued to reign until his death in 
1773, from a cancer in his face. His son and successor 
Tymoor enjoyed his throne in peace for twenty years, 
and made no attempt to recover Lahdr, and the Punjab. 
These, with the province of Sirhind, and the country east 
as far as the Jumna, fell into the possession of the chiefs 
and associations who had hitherto subsisted on plunder, 
and were for the most part of low origin, and wholly 
deficient in education and useful knowledge. 

The Sirdars or chiefs of the Sikh nation had been fol- 
lowed into the field by relations, friends, and volunteers, 
and not ordinarily by hired retainers. Most of these 
looked upon themselves as partners and associates in each 
enterprize, and regarded the lands now acquired as a 
common property in which each was to have his share^ 



4. D. 1765 to 1773. SIKH associations. 29 

according to the degree in which be might have contri- 
bnted to the acquisition. The associations were called 
Misuls, implying that they were Gonfederaoies ofequals, 
nnder chiefs of their own selection. The chief was to 
lead in war,: and act as arbiter in peace : he was respected 
Md treated, with, deference by the inferior Sirdars, but 
these owned no obligation to obey, beyond what they 
might consider to be for their own reciprocal benefit, or 
for the well being of the Misul. The confederacies had 
each their distinguisbing title, and at this period there 
are twelve principal Misuls enumerated^ which together 
could bring into the field about 70,000 horse. The fol- 
lowing is a recapitulation of them.' 

Number qf Horse* 

1st. The Bhungee Misul, at the head of which 
were the chiefs HuREE Singh, Jhundee 
Singh and Ghunda Singh, originally three 
J&t cultivators of the Dooab. The Misul de- 
rived its nam^ from the extraordinary addiction 
of its members to the use of Bhung, an intoxi- 
cating smoking material, prepared from the 
leaves of the Hemp plant. Its possessions are 
now incorporated in the Labor dominions, 10,000 

2nd. The Ramgurheea Misul, taking its name 
from a village east of Lahdr, of which the chief, 
JusA Singh, was originally a Thoka or carpen- 
ter. Its possessions are also incorporated in 
Runjbet Singh's dominions, 3,000 

3rd. Xhe Ghunneya Misul, headed by Jy 
Singh, a J&t of Ghunnee, which lies also east 
of Lah6r. Its possessions have likewise been 
seized by Runjeet Singh, , 8,000 



80 SIKH MISULS. A. D. 1773. 

4th. The Nulreea Misul, deriving its name 
from Nakree, a tract of country lying sonth* 
west of Lahdr, and bordering on Mooltan. It 
had several leaders, all J&t caltivators, of low ex- 
traction. Its possessions have been seized, and 
it no longer exists as a separate body, 2,000 

5th. The Aloowala Misul, headed then by 
JusA Singh, Kulal, or mace-bearer, who rose 
to great eminence amongst the Sikhs, and by his 
followers was honored with the title of Badshah. 
His possessions lay on both sides of the Sutlej, 
and the present chief, a descendant of J USA 
Singh, holds those to the east under British pro- 
tection. He is a grandee of the Court of RuN- 
JEET Singh, treated with distinction, but subject 
to continual exactions on account of his Punjab 
territory, 3,000 

6th. The Duleeala Misul, headed by Tara 
Singh Ghyba, a shepherd of Dulee, a village 
on the Ravee, east of Labor, who received the 
nickname of Ghyba, from his ingenious devices 
for conveying goats and lambs across the torrents 
to feed. Tara Singh's possessions are incor- 
porated in Run J eet Singh's dominions, but the 
Roopur, and some other Sirdars of the Misul, 
having possessions east of the Sutlej, are under 
British protection, # • 7,500 

7th. The Nishan-wala Misul, headed by SUN- 
GUT Singh and Mohur Singh, the standard 
bearers of the Dul, or assembled Sikh army. 



A. D. 1773. SIKH MISVLS. 31 

whence the tiame was derived. The families of 
both chiefs are extinct, and Umbala, one of its 
possessions, lapsed in consequence to the British: 
Sfaahabad belonging to subordinate chiefs, is 
under protection, 12,000 

8th. The Fyzoollapoorea Misul, sometimes 
styled Singhpoorea, headed by KUPOOR Singh 
and Khooshhal Singh, of FyzooUapoor, a vil- 
lage near Umritsur, the Mohummedan name of 
which the Sikhs changed to Singhpoor. The 
chiefs were Jkt Zemindars, Kupoor Singh was 
styled Nuwab by his followers ; their possessions 
west of the Sutlej, have been seized, but those to 
the east are still held by their descendants under 
British protection, • • • • 2,500 

9th. The Krora-Singhea MisuU headed by 
Krora Singh, and afterwards by Bhugaeel 
Singh, both J^ts. Krora Singh left no heir. 
Bhugaeel Singh's possessions in the Punjab 
have been absorbed, but his widow holds Chi- 
loundee and 22 other villages east of the Sutlej, 
under British protection. Chicheroulee belong- 
ing to a subordinate chief of the Misul, is also 
under protection, and Bhud&wur has lasped, • • • • 12,000 

10th. The Shuheed and Nihung Misul, head- 
ed by KuRUM Singh and GoorBuksh Singh. 
The name which signifies Martyrs, was acquired 
by the first chiefs, ancestors of those named, 
who were beheaded by the Mohummedans at 
Domduma, west of Puteeala. Their possessions 
lie east of the Sutlej, and are protected, •••••• 2,000 



82 SIKH MISULS. A. D. 1T73. 

11 tb . The Phoolkea and Bhyhea Misul, bead- 
ed by Raja Ala Singh, and afterwards by 
Baja Umur Singh, bis grandson, of Pateeala. 
Pbool was tbe J&t progenitor of the Puteeala, 
Nabab, Jeend, and Kytbul cbiefs, all of whom 
are under British protection, 5,000 

12tb. Tbe Sookur-Chukea Misul, beaded by 
Churut Singh, ancestor of Runjeet Singh, 
tbe present sovereign of Labdr, whose progeni- 
tors were J&t Zumeendars of Sookur-Chuk, . • • • 2,500 



69,500 






In the above list the Misul of Churut Singh holds 
tbe last place, and was formed probably after tbe suc- 
cessful defence of Gujraolee, and tbe defeat of Khaja 
Obyd had raised the reputation, and given a new dis- 
tinction to that chief. Every Misul acted independently, 
or in concert, as necessity or inclination suggested, but 
there was generally an assembly of tbe chiefs called tbe 
Surgut Khaha, held twice a year at Umritsur during 
the Bysakbee and Dewalee festivals, which • occur in 
April and October. On these occasions, after bathing 
in the sacred reservoir, they generally held a^ Goor' 
mutta, or special council, where expeditions of import- 
ance, or any matters of more than ordinary moment 
were submitted to their united wisdom. If the Joint 
forces of several Misuls took the field upon any pre- 
datory enterprize, or to collect Rakha (Black Mail)* 
tbe army assumed the denomination of a Dul of tbe 
Khaha Jee. 



A. D. 1775. SIKH LORDSHIPS. -33 

When the Misuls acquired their territorial posses- 
sions, it became the first duty of the chiefs to partition 
out the lands, towns, and villages amongst those who 
considered themselves as having made the conquest, 
Shamil, or in common. Every Surkunda, or leader of 
the smallest party of horse that fought under the stand- 
ard of the Misul, demanded his share, in proportion to 
the degree in which he had contributed to the acquisition, 
and, as they received no pay from the chief, and he had 
no other recompense to offer for their services, there was 
no resource but to adopt this mode of satisfying them. 
The sirdaree or chief's portion being first divided off, 
the remainder was separated into Puttees or parcels for 
each Surkunda, and these were again subdivided and 
parcelled out to inferior leaders, according to the number 
of horse they brought into the field. Each took his portion 
as a co-sharer, and held it in absolute independence. 

It was impossible that this state of things should subsist 
long in the Punjab, any more than it had done in England, 
France, and other countries of Europe, when they similar- 
ly fell a prey to hordes of associated warriors, who 
acknowledged no systematic general authority or govern- 
ment. When the link of a common enemy and common 
danger was removed, and the chiefs were converted from 
needy adventurers to lords of domains, discords and mutual 
plunderings commenced, as temper, ambition, or avarice, 
excited to contention. Cause of quarrel was never 
wanting in the confusion of the coparcenary system. The 
disputes and divisions which subsisted in each lordship, 
favoured the designs of the aspiring from without, whoso 
mA being solicited by one of the parties, an opening was 
frequently found to ejectboth. In cases of frontier disputes, 
orofinjnry, or wrong of any kind sustained or fancied, the 

E 



^ STATE OF MANNERS, A. D. 1779. 

chief would call upon his kindred and retainers to fur- 
nish him the means of redress, and they would feel 
bound by a sense of honor not to fail, when the Chara^ 
or gathering was demanded in such a cause ; but in a 
matter of internal strife within the Misul, every one 
would be free to choose his own side, and either party 
would deem it fair to fortify itself with any aid it could 
command from without. Upon occasions of gathering, 
it became customary for the chief, or person demanding 
it, to pay a rupee per kathee or saddle ; in other respects, 
the service was gratuitous, and plunder was the reward 
expected by those who joined either standard. The 
past life and habits of the Sikhs precluded any scruples 
on their part as to the conduct or character of their 
associates. The most daring culprits found ready admis- 
sion into their ranks, and it was a point of honor to deliver 
no one upon demand of a neighbour, whatever migbt be 
the crime laid to his charge. Hence arose the practise 
of Gaka, or self-redress, by individuals, no less than by 
chiefs ; and every owner of a village was compelled to 
surround his possession with a wall and ditch, while in 
towns, or places held in joint property, the houses of the 
coparcenary, and of all who were exposed to the appetence 
or revengeful passions of others, \^ere built as towers or 
keeps, and a fort in joint tenancy would orditmrily be 
divided by an inner retrenchment, as a protection against 
treachery from the fellow occupant. 

The tenure that has been described above is the Pttfo#* 
daree, that of every associate in the Misul of less rank 
than a Sirdar, down even to the single horseman, who 
equipped and mounted himself: all these regulated entire- 
ly the management of their putee, fining, confining, or 



A. D. 1773. AND LAND TENURES. 35 

even farther illtreating, according to their pleasure, any 
Znmeendar, or working Ryot of their allotment. His 
complaint could not be listened to or redressed by any 
superior ; but in case of quarrel with an equal, reference 
would be made to the Surkunda, and if his decision fail- 
ed to give satisfaction, an appeal might be made to the 
general Sirdar. The more ordinary mode, however, was 
to collect friends and relations, and seek a prompt self- 
redress. It was not legitimate for a Puteedar to sell his 
tenure to a stranger, but he might mortgage it to satisfy 
any present want, and at his demise might settle by will, 
to which of his male relations it should go. Reciprocal 
aid for mutual protection and defence, was the relation 
on which a Puteedar stood in other respects to the Sir- 
dar, and the only condition of his tenure. 

Besides the Puteedaree, however, there were three 
other tenures created, arising out of the circumstances, 
in which different chiefs found themselves, from the man- 
ner of their association with those who composed their 
Misul. These were the JUisuldaree, the Tabadaree and 
the Jageerdaree. 

Bodies of inferior strength, or petty chiefs with their 
followers, attached themselves sometimes to a Misul, 
without subscribing to any conditions of association or 
dependence. The allotments of land assigned to such, 
would be considered as the free reward of their co-ope- 
ration, and would be held in no sort of dependence ; they 
were called Misuldaree. If dissatisfied with his chief a 
Mifiuldar might transfer himself with his possessions to 
another, under whose protection or countenance he might 
prefer to continue. 

K 2 



36 LAND TENURES. 4..D. 1773» 

A T&lddar was on the other band a retainer, as the 
word is understood in Europe, one completely subser- 
vient ; the lands which were his reward, were liable to 
forfeiture for any act of disobedience or rebellion, and 
at the caprice of the Sirdar might be resumed upon any 
occasion of displeasure. 

The third class of tenures or Jageers were given ta 
ne^dy relations, dependents, and entertained soldiers 
who deserved well, and the holders were liable to be 
called upon for their personal services at all times, with 
their quotas or contingents, equipped and mounted at 
their own charge, according to the extent of the grant* 
These were even further under the power of the Sirdar 
than the Tdbadaree grants. Both were hereditary only 
according to his pleasure, the lands of them formed part 
of the allotment set apart for the Sirdaree, and the Misul, 
or association, had, of course, nothing to say in such 
assignments. 

The religious and charitable appropriations and grants, 
viz, those made to Sikh Gooroos, Soodees, and Baidees, 
or to endowments for temples, and for charitable distribu- 
tions of alms, and sometimes even to Moosulman Peer- 
zadas, need no description, for they had nothing to dis* 
tinguish them from what are found all over India. 

The above explanation has been necessary to give 
some idea of the state of things, which resulted from the 
two provinces of Lah6r and Sirhind being left to be 
occupied by the Sikhs, when, finally abandoned by the 
Afghans, as they had previously been by the Moghul and 
Dehlee ofiicers. The European reader will at once be 



A. D. 1773* FEUDAL SYSTEM. 37 

strack by tbe similarity between the condition of things 
above described, and the relations which have been handed 
down to us of what occurred in England, when the Saxons 
similarly spread and occupied that country ; and when 
Clovis and the Franks seized the fairest portion of GauK 
The arrangements for government were the very rudest 
that the most ignorant tribes ever devised : and, though 
the ideologist may find something attractive in contem- 
plating such attempts to realize in practise the dream of 
universal independence and equality of condition between 
individuals, he must, indeed, be a bold speculator in 
politics, who would assume that any class could find hap- 
piness, contentment, or rest, in a country ruled by seven-. 
iy thousand sovereigns, as were the unfortunate provinces 
of Lahdr and Sirhind, when the Sikhs assumed dominion 
over them. 



CHAPTER THIRD. 



A. D. 1773 to 1791. 



Feuds and contentions of ilie Sikhs. Rise and fall of 
different chiefs. The history of Churut Singh and 
MaJia Singh, ancestors ofRunjeet Singh, traced to the 
death of the latter, and Runjeefs assumption of tAe 
direction of affairs^ 

In resuming tbe progress of events in the Punjab, the 
narrator has henceforward only to record the squabbles 
and petty feuds, which arose amongst the chiefs thus left 
in possession, and as these ordinarily were of little inter^ 
est and less variety, those only deserve relation, which 
contributed to produce the status now observed, in other 
words, those in which the ancestors of RuNJEET SiN6H» 
or himself, bore a part. 

The hill Raja of Jummoo, Runjeet Deo byname, 
had a misunderstanding with his eldest son Bru-Raj, 
and desired to set aside his pretensions to the succession 
in favour of the youngest, Meean Dulel Singh. In 
order to secure his hereditary rights, Brij-Raj broke 
into rebellion, and applied to Churut Singh, offering 



A. D. 1774. CHURUT SINGH SLAIN. 39 

a large yearly tribute on condition of his aiding to effect 
the deposition of his father. Churut Singfi having 
an old enmity against RuNJEET Deo, closed with the 
offer, and strengthening himself by association with Jv 
Singh of the Ghuneea Misul, their united force march- 
ed into the hills and encamped atOodhachur, on the bank 
of the Busuntee river. The Raja having received 
timely notice of the designs of the heir-apparent, had 
made corresponding preparations for resistance. The 
defence of the capital he reserved to himself, but col- 
lected a force to oppose the invasion, composed of auxi- 
liaries from Chumba, Noorpoor, Busehur, and Kangra, in 
the hills, to which were added, besides a party of his 
own troops, the confederated forces of the Bhungee 
Misul under Jhunda Singh, whom he induced to lend 
his services in the extremity. The two armies lay en- 
camped on opposite sides of the Busuntee, and in a par- 
tial skirmish between the Sikh auxiliaries Churut 
Singh was killed by the bursting of his own matchlock. ^ 

He was 45 years of age, and had risen from a com- 
mon Dharwee or highwayman, to be Sirdar of a separate 
Misul, with a territory computed to yield about three 
lakhs of rupees. He left a widow, Dbsan by name, 
with two sons and a daughter, called respectively Maha 
Singh, SuHUJ Singh and Raj Koonwur. The eldest 
son Maha Singh, then ten years of age, succeed- 
ed to the Sirdaree, but the widow and Jy Singh 
Gbunee assumed the immediate direction of affairs. 
It was determined by them to assassinate J hunda Singh 
Bhungee, who was the main stay of the Jummoo 
Ri^a^s party, and the avowed enemy of both the Sookur- 
Chukeea and Ghunee Misuls. A sweeper was tempted 



40 JHUNDA SINGH ASSASSINATED. A. D. Itli. 

by a large bribe, to undertake this hazardoas enterprize, 
and be succeeded in effecting his purpose by firing 
at and mortally wounding the Bhungee chief, as he was 
walking unattended through the Jummo^ camp. The 
Sookurchukeea and Ghunee Sikhs being satisfied with 
the revenge thus taken, withdrew soon after from the 
enterprize in which they had engaged. The Bhungee 
troops had similarly left the opposite camp on the death 
of their chief. Thus Brij-Raj Deo was left alone to 
settle with his father his rights of inheritance to the Raj-: 
before the departure, however, of MahaSingh, he went 
through the ceremony of an exchange of turbands (Dus- 
tarbudlee,) withBRiJ-RAJ, which bound him to brother- 
hood for life. These events occurred in 1774.* ; 

Several subordinate Sirdars of Churut Singh's re- 
xsently formed Misul, mistrusting the youth of Maha 
Singh, or dissatisfied with the Regent widow, aimed 
now to shake off their dependence. Of these, oneDnuRUM 
Singh was the first to commit himself by an overt act of 
xebellion. He relied on the succour and countenance of 
<Jhunda Singh, Jhunda Singh's successor, in the 
Sirdaree of the Bhungee Misul, but was deceived in his 
expectations, and suffered forfeiture of his lands for con- 
tumacy, before any aid could come to his relief. The rest 

* Captain Wade gives ITTl as the date of Churut Singh's death, an^ 
states It to have occurred in a general action with the Bhungee Sikhs at 
Suhawara, near Jusar Dodeh, in the Rich,hua Dooah. He concurs in 
assigning the bursting of his matchlock as the cause of Churut Singh's 
death, but says that Jhunda Singh was shot by a man of his own ftatf 
in the course of the action. The discrepance, except that of date, is not 
very material ; but it is singular that such an event should be so diffef;- 
ently reported to the two officers— Captain Murray is deemed the supe- 
rior aumority, and his version has therefore been adhered to. In like 
manner, Captain Wade diflfers from Captain Murray in the date assigned 
to the birth of Maha Singh. Captain W. places it in 1757, making hiilk 
14 years old in 1771, when Churut Singh died according to his version. 
Captain Murray fixe» it in 1764, making him 10 years old in 1774. 



A. D. 1778. MAHA SINGH'S FIUST ENTERPRIZE. H 

were deterred by this example, and the moment appearing 
favorable, the naptials of Maha Singh were celebrated 
in 1776, with the daughter of Gujput Singh, of Jeend, 
to whom he had previously been betrothed. Jy SingH 
and a large armed force of Sookurchukea and Ghunee 
Sikhs crossed the Sutlej with the Burdt to Bndrookh, 
where the young chief was met by his bride ; and a large 
concourse of Sirdars of the nation did honor to the cere^ 
mony, it being with them obligatory to give attendance 
on such occasions, and the omission being looked upon 
as a slight and a wide deviation from propriety. 

Maha Singh is next heard of as the associate of Jy 
Singh in an enterprize for the capture of Rusool-Nugur, 
now called Ram-Nugur by the Sikhs, situated on the 
east bank of the Chunab, and held by a Jdt Moosulman, 
named Peer Mohummed, who was at the head of the 
ancient tribe of Chutta, styled sometimes Munchureea, 
from a considerable town in their occupation, and many of 
whom have embraced the religion of the Koran. The 
pretext for this attack was, that the tribe had given up to 
the Bhungee Misul a large piece of ordnance, left behind 
by the Abdalee Shah, and placed with them in deposit, 
from inability to cross it over the Chunab. This gun was 
of much celebrity, and is now known as the Bhungee 
Top : it was claimed for the Khalsa or Sikh nation at 
large, to be appropriated by an assembly of chiefs. Rnsool 
Nugar was besieged and blockaded for four months, and 
the Bhungee Sikhs being employed at the time in plunder- 
ing and seeking possessions, or in levying tribute in the 
Mooltan and Buhawuipoor districts, neglected to afford 
Bucconr or relief. The place consequently fell to Maha 
Singh, who acquired great reputation by this early feat 

F 



42 BIRTH OF RUNJEET SINGH. A. D. 1780. 

of arms, so mach so, that many independent Sirdars, 
who had hitherto attached themselves to the Bhanged 
Misul, transferred their services and preferred to follow 
his leading in war, and to live under his countenance 
and protection. 

Two years after this event, on the 2d November 1780, 
a son was born to Maha Singh, by his wife, of the Jeend 
family, and named Runjeet Singh. The child was 
attacked by the small-pox at a very early age, and the 
disease taking an unfavorable turn, his life was endanger- 
ed, whereupon the father, according to Asiatic custom, 
made large donations to the poor in charity, fed multi- 
tudes of Brahmins and holy men to secure their prayers, 
and sent gifts to the sacred temples at Kangra and 
Juwala-Mookhee. The boy recovered, bat .with th6 
loss of one of his eyes, whence he is termed Kana^ or 
the one-eyed ; and his face in other respects is marked 
with the disease. Maha Singh was engaged at this 
period in settling the territory he had inherited or acquir- 
ed, and in extending his influence and connexions. The 
Bhungees lost their principal Sirdars, and having aimed 
to establish themselves in Mooltan, brought down on 
themselves an Afghan army, which retook the city from 
them, and further ejected them from Buhawulpoor and 
Munkera. The consequence was, that the power of the 
Misul was effectually broken, and the rising fortune and 
reputation of Maha Singh enabled him to extend bis 
relations and strengthen himself from its ruin. He was 
cautious, however, of engaging in any direct hostility with 
his Sikh brethren, well knowing that to follow such means 
of aggrandizement, would breed ill will, and lead probably 
to a confederacy, and gathering for his .destcacti(m« 



A, D. 1781. AMBITIOUS VIEWS OF MAHA SINGH. 43 

Again, the Afghan power was still too formidable, and 
too united, for him to hope to aggrandize himself at the 
expense of that nation. Plis restless spirit was, however^ 
not long in finding a quarter in which to pursue his 
schemes at pleasure. 

Raja RuNJEET Deo of Jummoo was dead, and his 
son Bru-Raj Deo having succeeded to that Raj, 
proved unworthy and debauched, so that discontent pre- 
vailed in the principality, and afforded an opening for 
interference. Maha Singh tempted by this state of 
things, resolved to exact tribute, and enforce fealty from 
his turband brother; he accordingly moved with a force 
into the hills, and Bru-Raj being in no condition for 
resistance, fled to the Trikota-Devee mountain, a three- 
peaked eminence, where is an Usthan or temple of Bi- 
shun-Devee, in which the Hindoo Devotee presents an 
offering of cocoanuts, deemed more agreeable to the 
benevolent goddess than the heads of goats. The town 
of Jummoo was at this period very prosperous and rich, 
for, in consequence of the distractions of the Punjab, 
many of the wealthy merchants had been induced to seek 
an asylum, or to establish a branch-firm within the hills 
beyond their influence. Jammoo was well situated for 
this purpose, while under Runjeet Deo the resort of 
this class of persons to his dominions was encouraged, and 
they lived in ease and security. Maha Singh and his 
Sikhs sacked the town, and ravaged the whole territory of 
Jummoo, and he is reported to have brought away a large 
spoil, including much specie and valuables of all kinds. 

By this conduct Maha Singh, though he enriched 
himself, raised also many enemies. The Bhungee Sikhs 

F 2 



44 QUARREL WITH JY SINGH, A. D. 1781. 

who had long maintained a connexion with Jammoo, 
were highly irritated, and, what was even of more conse- 
quence to Maha Singh's rising fortunes, the displea- 
sure and jealousy of his old Mentor and guardian, Jy 
Singh, of Ghunee, was incurred. This chief was now in 
the zenith of his power, and was of a haughty imperious 
temper. Maha Singh on his return from the hills pro- 
ceeded with his booty to Umritsur, with the double pur- 
pose of paying his respects to J y Singh, and performing 
his ablutions in the holy reservoir. The old chief receiv- 
ed him with marked coolness and displeasure, so much i^o 
that Maha Singh assuming the demeanour of an inferior, 
approached with a tray of sweetmeats in his hand, and 
begged to be made acquainted with the cause he had 
given for offence, professing his sense of filial obligation 
and attachment to Jy Singh, and offering any atone- 
ment in his power. Jy Singh was stretched at length 
on his couch, and, drawing his sheet over him, called 
out loudly and rudely, that he desired to hear no more 
of the Bhugtea's (dancing boy's) pathetic conversa- 
tion. Maha Singh retired in high indignation at this 
reception, and determined to be revenged for the insnlt* 
He mounted his horse, and, with a few followers, made 
his escape secretly from Umritsur, where Jy Singh's 
power and influence were paramount, and returned to his 
home to seek the means of executing his purposes. Being 
too weak to enter the field against the Ghunee and Bhun^ 
gee Misuls alone, he cast about for associates, and deter^ 
mined to make a friend of JusA Singh, Sirdar of the 
Ramghureea Misul, who had recently been ousted from 
his possessions in the Punjab by a confederacy of the 
Aloowala and Ghunee associations, and the latter had 
b^en considerable gainers by the aggression. Agenta 



/k. D. 178^. WHO YIELDS TO MAHA SINGH. 45 

were immediately dispatched to recall JusA SinCh, and 
to assure him of aid and support, if disposed to make an 
effort for the recovery of his lost possessions. The des- 
poiled chief was living by depredations in the Dooab of 
the Jumna and Ganges, with the wilds of Hansee and 
Hisar for his place of refuge ; having satisfied himself of 
the motives of Maha Singh's offer, and being convidced 
that it was sincere, he lost no time in returning into the 
Punjab, with all the force he could collect. 

The combined troops of Maha Singh and Jus a Singh 
now appeared suddenly within a few miles of Battala, the 
principal town of Jy Singh's possessions, and where 
he had fixed his residence. Here they were joined by 
SunsarChund, Raja of KdtKangra in the hills, and by 
Umur Singh Bugreh, and some other disaffected tri-^ 
butaries of the Ghunee Sirdar, who had been stirred up by 
Maha Singh. Jy Singh was now called upon to render 
up the share of the Ramghureea possessions, which had been 
allotted to him, and, on his refusal, the invaders proceeded 
to occupy and ravage the country. Jy Singh made a 
gathering of his Misul, and placing his son 600R BuKHSH 
Singh at the head of 8000 horse, sent him to punish and 
expel the invaders. An action ensued, in which GooR 
Bukhsh exposed himself with youthful rashness, and wad 
slain ; whereupon his followers dispersed and fled, and 
the victors soon after made themselves masters of Battala, 
when Jy Singh being humbled, was compelled to sue 
for peace. It was granted to him by the young chief he 
had insulted, under condition that he should render up 
the Ramghureea lands to JuSA Singh, and the fort of 
Kangra, which he had obtained by stratagem, to SUN« 
9A.R Chund. These terms being accepted, the allies 



46 MARRIAGE OF RUNJEET SINGH. A. D. 1785* 

retained the town of Battala, but towards the close 
of the year SuDA KooNWUR, widow of GoorBukhsh 
Singh succeeded by intrigue with the inhabitants in 
ejecting the garrison and recovering it. 

Jy Singh had set his hopes on the promise afforded 
by the character of GooR Bukhsh; and though he had 
two other sons, by name Bagh Singh and Nidhan 
Singh, he treated them with neglect, his whole affections 
being engrossed by the family of his deceased son. The 
widow, SuDA KooNWUR, had paramount influence, and 
gained an entire ascendant over the old man, and as she 
was of an aspiring, bold spirit, she procured that a sepa- 
rate appanage of some villages about Sohnan and Hajee* 
poor should be set apart for the surviving sons, while she 
regulated every thing at Battala for the interest of her- 
self and her only child by GooR Bukhsh, a daughter. 
At her suggestion, a negociation was opened for the afS- 
ance of the girl, whose name was Mehtap-koonwur, 
to RuNJEET Singh, the young son of Maha Singh, 
whom she hoped thus to bind to a permanent reconcilia- 
tion, and through his friendship and powerful support to 
secure for herself the Sirdaree upon her father-in-law's 
decease. Maha Singh assented readily to the union, 
and the Mungnee, or betrothment, of the children was 
duly performed in the year 1785, and contributed further 
to raise Maha Singh in power and reputation ; for 
through the friendship of the Ramghnreea Sirdar, and 
Kangra Raja, which was permanently secured by his 
aid in the recovery of their lost possessions, added to 
the influence resulting from this close connexion with the 
Ghunee Misul, there was no one in the Punjab, or of 
the^Sikh nation, that could compete with him in authority. 



A. D. 1701. FURTHER PROJECTS. 47 

or command equal means if called upon for an exertion. 
Tlie result was favorable to the prosperity of the country, 
and the Punjab for several years during this chiefs 
ascendancy, enjoyed a repose and tranquillity to which it 
had long been a stranger. 

Until 1791 Maha Singh continued to administer in 
peace the territory he had acquired, and to exercise his 
influence for the benefit of those connected with him. 
In that year GoojUR Singh, the Sikh chief of Gooj rat, 
died, and Saheb Singh, his son, succeeded to the Sir- 
daree. The sister of Maha Singh had been given 
in marriage to Saheb Singh by Churut Singh, 
but the ties of affinity had little influence in restrain- 
ing ambitious views, and the desire of aggrandizement 
which filled the mind of Maha Singh, was not to be so 
checked. He deemed the moment favorable for asserting 
superiority over Goojrat, and for claiming tribute. Saheb 
Singh evaded <^ompliance, alleging that his father was an 
adherent of the Bhungee Misul, and had never fought 
under the standard of the Sookurchukeea, to whom he 
acknowledged no dependance. Maha Singh marched 
on receiving this reply and besieged Saheb Singh inhis 
fort of Soodhurp. The Goojrateea chief applied in 
his distress to the Bhungee Sikhs, and Kurum Singh 
DooLOO came with the strength of that Misul to interrupt 
the siege* Though not strong enough to enter the field 
with Maha Singh, they hovered about his camp, and 
put him to considerable inconvenience for supplies ;. a 
detachment of the Sookurchukeeas however succeeded 
after a time in beating up the quarters and plundering the 
camp of the Bhungees, after which the siege proceeded. 
Maha Singh had been three months before the place. 



\ 



48 DGATH OF MAHA SINdH. A. D. 1792. 

when in the early part of the year 1792 he became seri- 
ously ill. The siege was immediately broken up, an'd the 
chief being carried back to his principal place of resi- 
dence Goojraolee, expired there in the twenty-seventh year 
of his age. He was brave, active, and prudent beyond his 
years, and left a high reputation amongst his nation, for all 
the qualities of a Sirdar. He shook off the trammels of his 
mother's guardianship at the early age of seventeen, and 
some time after, having detected her in an intrigue with a 
Brahmin, put her to death with his own hand ; an act of 
barbarous justice, that does not seem to have lessened his 
reputation, or in. any way to have affected his character 
injuriously in the eyes of his cotemporaries. 

Maha Singh left only one son, the present Runjeet 
Singh, who was then in his twelfth year. His mother 
became regent, and was assisted by the minister of her 
husband, LuKHOOor Lukhput Singh. Suda Koon- 
WUR, the minor chiefs mother-in-law, exerted also much 
influence in the conduct of affairs, and in the year 
following, viz. in 1793, the demise of Jy Singh left 
the Ghunee Misul likewise under her direction, every 
thing having been prepared before hand, for the exclusion 
of the sons of that Sirdar. 

Little care was taken of the education of Runjeet 
Singh : the means were furnished to him of gratifying 
every youthful passion or desire, and his early years were 
passed in indulgence and in following the sports of the 
jGeld. He was never taught to read or write in any lan- 
guage. While still in tutelage, however, a second marriage 
was contracted for him with Raj Koonwur, a daughter 
of the Nukee chief, Khujan Singh. 



A. D. 1793. RUNJEET SINGH's FIRST MEASURES. 49 

Upon attaining the age of 17 years, Runjeet Singh, 
in imitation of his father, assumed in person the conduct 
of affairs, and dismissed the Dewan : it is further stated 
that, under the guidance of DuL Singh, his father's 
maternal uncle, who had long borne ill-will to the Dewan, 
LuKHOO was dispatched on an expedition to Kitas, 
where he was slain in an affray with the Zumeendars, not 
without suspicions of contrivance. His father's example 
gave sanction to an act of further cruelty in Runjeet 
Singh. The regent mother was accused of having led 
a life of profligate indulgence, the late Dewan being not 
the only paramour admitted to her favors. Upon receiving 
evidence to this, it is said, that Runjeet Singh gave 
his sanction to, or at least connived at, her being put to 
death, and the old chief, DuL Singh, is designated as the 
perpetrator of the act by means of poison.* Runjeet 
Singh, with the advice of Suda Koonwur, carried 
on now in person all the affairs of his Sirdaree, and the 
difficulties he experienced, with the means by which he 
extricated himself, and made every circumstance contribute 
to his further rise, will form the subject of the Chapters 
which follow. 



* The above particulars are from Captain Wade's Report. Captain 
Murray merely states, that ^' he dismissed the Dewan, and caused his 
mother to be assassinated." Captain Wade assigns the year 1787 for the 
decease of Maha Singh, and states him to have been born in 1757, as 
before remarked, which are discrepancies of date with Captain Murray, 
for which I am unable to account ; the latter is the authority followed. 



CHAPTER FOURTH- 



A. D. 1794 to 1808. 



The early administration of Runjeet Singh, His aggran- 
dizement at the expense of other Sikh Sirdars, to his 
treaty with the British Government, and exclusion 
from the countries east of the Sutlej. 

In the course of the years 1795, 1796, and 1797, the 
Punjab was twice exposed to invasion by Shah Zuman, 
who had recently succeeded the peaceful Tymoor on the 
throne of KabooK The Sikhs ventured not to oppose 
him openly in the field, and his coming^, therefore, 
was a source of infinite confusion, leading to a temporary 
abandonment of their possessions by the Sirdars near his 
route. In 1798 the Shah advanced again, and entered 
Lah6r, without opposition ; but, after a few months stay 
there, finding it impossible to make any arrangements for 
the permanent occupation of the country, or to render 
the Punjab in other respects a source of advantage to 
himself, he retraced his steps to his hereditary dominions 
west of the Indus, and the Sikh Sirdars returned each to 



INTRIGUES. 51 

the territory he had acquired, and which had been evacu- 
ated on the Shah's approach. Runjeet Singh was 
one of those who retired before the Shah, and on this 
last occasion he joined other Sirdars similarly circum- 
stanced with himself, or otherwise linked to his Misul^ 
and made an expedition across the Sutlej, where he em- 
ployed the interval" of the Shah's stay at Lah6r in a tour 
for the exaction of tribute/ and for the reduction to his 
authority of any towns or villages he could master. 

Upon the retirement of the Shah, Runjeet Singh 
began to entertain designs for securing Labor to him- 
self, and his mother-in-law, Suda Koonwur, encouraged 
and lent her aid to forward his views. The city was at 
this time in the joint possession of Chyt Singh, Mo- 
HUR Singh, and Saheb Singh. Runjeet Singh, 
however, by an opportune service to Zuman Shah, ob- 
tained from that prince ia grant with permission to take 
possession. The Afghan had been compelled to preci- 
pitate his retreat from the Punjab, by intelligence of 
designs from Persia on the side of Herat, having for their 
object the support of the claims of Shah Mahmood. 
On arriving at the Jhilem, that river was found swollen 
with temporary rain, so that the Afghan artillery could 
not be crossed. Not thinking it expedient to wait on 
this account. Shah Zuman wrote to Runjeet Singh, 
to extricate and forward to him the guns left behind, 
holding out the hope, that bis known wishes in respect to 
Lah6r might be complied with, if this duty were well 
performed. The politic Sikh raised eight, out of the 
twelve guns, from the bed of the river into which they 
had sunk, and forwarded them to the Shah, from whom he 
received in return the grant he desired. The remaining 

g 2 



52 LAHOR MASTERED BY RUNJI^T SINGH. A. D. 1799. 

four guns were raised only in 1823, and are now in the 
arsenal at Lahdr''^. 

Armed with this authority as an influence over the 
Mohummedan population of the town, and assisted by 
the credit and troops of Suda Koonwur, Runjeet 
Singh prepared an expedition for the seizure of the city 
of Lahdr. The three Sikh chiefs in possession were 
shameless in conduct, profligate and debauched, and 
neglectful of the means of securing themselves. They 
had few troops or retainers, and their administration was 
most unpopular. In order to prepare the way for the 
success of his scheme, Runj eet Singh deputed Kazee 
Ubdoor-ruhman, a native of Rusoolnugur, to open an 
intrigue with some of the principal Moosulman inha- 
bitants. Meer Mohkum, manager for Chyt Singh, 
with MoHUMMUD AsHiK and Meer Shadee, were 
won over to assist the project, and promised on the 
approach of Runjeet Singh, to open one of the gates 
to him; accordingly he marched, accompanied by his 
mother-in-law, and, having been admitted without oppo- 
sition, Chyt Singh and his two co-partners, were com- 
pelled to accept Jageers for subsistence; and Runjeet 
Singh thus established his own authority, and made 
arrangements to secure his conquest. His successful 
aggression and acquisition of a place so famous excited 
the jealousy of all rival Sirdars, and an assembly of troops 
for recovery of this city took place at Basim. Goolab 
Singh Bhungee, Saheb Singh of Goojrat, and Nu* 
JUM-ooD-DEEN of Kasoor, were the chiefs at the head of 

* The fact of Runjeet Sing's having obtained aerant of Lahdr from 
the Afghan Sovereign, is not mentionea by Captain Murray. The state* 
ment, with the circumstances under which it was alleged to be procured, 
is made on the authority of Captain Wade. 



A. D. 1802. BIRTH OF KHURUK SINGH. 53 

the confederacy most active in hostility to Runjeet 
Singh. After a few months of debate however, and 
some fruitless skirmishes, finding the young chief well 
prepared, their army broke up, and the city was left ever 
after in Runjeet Singh's uninterrupted possession. 

The Moosulmans of Kasoor, a considerable town, stated 
to be about 25 k6s S. E. of Lah6r, incurred the just 
resentment of Runjeet Singh, as well by the part 
their chief had taken in this confederacy, as by depreda- 
tions since committed by them up to the gates of the city. 
His next enterprize was against their possessions, and in 
1801-2 Nujum-ood-deen was compelled to submit to 
terms, binding himself to furnish a quota of troops under 
his brother Kootub-ood-deen, and to become a feuda- 
tory of Runjeet Singh. In the same year the young 
chief, having proceeded to bathe in the sacred reservoir 
of Gooroo Ram-Das at Tarun-Turun, met there Sirdar 
FuTEH Singh, of the Aloowala Misul, and contracting 
a friendship with him, made an exchange of turbands. 

The year 1802 was marked by the birth* of Khuruk 
Singh, the present heir-apparent of Maha Raja Run- 
jeet Singh: his mother was Raj-Koonwur, daugh- 
ter of Khuj AN Singh of Nukee. In the same year, the 
fort of Cheniot held by JusA Singh, son of theBhungee 
chief, Kurum Singh Dooloo, was besieged, and, 
after a short resistance, taken by Runjeet Singh, who 
made to the expelled chief a trifling allowance for main- 
tenance. 

* Captain Wade places this event after the decease of DuL Singh, and 
pending measures to occupy his Jageer and fort of Aleepoor, which, 
according to Captain Murray, would make it in 1804. The year 1802, is, 
however, assigned as the date by both OlBcers. 



54 FURTHER ENTERPRIZES. A. D. 1802-3. 

In the month of December 1802, Runjeet Singh 
assembled his own and SuDA Koonwur's forces, and 
being joined by the Aloowala, the three united Misals 
fell suddenly on the family of GooLAB SiNGH, the last 
Bhungee Sirdar of note, who had been always at feud 
with Maha Singh when living, and was at the head of 
the confederacy which had attempted to recover Lah6r. 
GooLAB Singh had died in 1800, leaving a widownam- 
ed Ranee Soorha, and a son Goordut Singh, still 
a minor, under her guardianship. The moment was con* 
sidered favorable to break for ever the power of the 
Bhnngees. Accordingly, the widow was called upon to 
surrender the fort of Lohgurh in Umritsur, to give up the 
great Bhungee gun, and in other respects to submit to 
the confederates. Feeling unequal to resist, the helpless 
widow evacuated Lohgurh, and fled with her child, and 
the family has since sunk to indigence and obscurity. 

' Pending this operation, a domestic feud occurred in 
Kasoor; and, Nujum-ggd-deen being assassinated, was 
succeeded in the Sirdaree, by Kggtub-ood-deen, his 
brother. The juncture appearing favorable, Runjeet 
Singh moved down, with a large force of confederated 
Sikhs against that territory, but after plundering the 
open country for three months, finding he could make no 
impression on the strong holds which are numerous in 
the district, he accepted a pecuniary payment, and retired. 
In March of this year. Raja Sunsar Chund, of K&t 
-Kangra, in the hills, made a descent into the plains and 
plundered some villages in the territory of SuDA KooN- 
WUR, that is, belonging to the Ghunee Misul. She called 
for the aid of her son-in-law, who marched immediately 
with Futeh Singh Aloowala, and soon expelled the 



A. D. 1804. RAPACITY. 65 

moQQtaiiieers. The occasion was taken to invest Soojan- 
poor, which was held by the Sikh chief Boo DH Singh 
Bhcjgut, from whom a sum of ready money, a large 
piece of ordnance, and the three districts of Buhrampoor^ 
Dharnmkot, and Sookhalgurh^ were extorted. 

From the Jalundhar Dooab, where these operations 
bad carried him, Runjeet Singh crossed the Ravee, 
and returned to Lah6r by a detour through Sealkot and 
Rusoolnugur, plundering as he went. The widow of 
Choor-Mul was, during this march, deprived of Phug- 
wara, which was given in an exchange to Futeh Singh 
Aloowala. Sunsar Chund ventured again into the 
plains towards the close of the year, and seized several 
towns in the Jalundhur, but decamped again on the march 
thither of Runjeet with a body of Aloowala and Ghunee 
confederates. In February following, the Hill Raja again 
appeared, and having seized Hoshyarpbor and Bijwara, 
attempted to maintain himself there. ' From both, how- 
ever, he was expelled by the Sikhs, and Runjeet Singh, 
after this service, made a tour of exaction, in which, 
either as gift or tribute, he obtained considerable sums 
from the old Sikh chiefs, Tara Singh Ghyba, Dhurum 
Singh, of Umritsur, and Boodh Singh, ofFyzoolla- 
poor. . His conduct excited the jealousy and fears of all 
the Sirdars, who had hitherto enjoyed independence, and 
immunity from molestation. They saw that Runjeet 
aimed to reduce them to fealty and subservience; yet 
were they so divided, and filled with jealousies, and with- 
out a head or leader, that they attempted nothing, and 
could devise no scheme to relieve themselves from his 
arbitrary exactions, and from the forfeiture and resump- 
tion with which he seemed systeinatically to visit the 



56 EXACTIONS FROM CHUNAB SIRDARS. A. D. 1804. 

family of every chief that died. It was in this year 
that DuL Singh, the brother-in-law of Churut Singh, 
died, wheD Run J EST acquired Akulgurh^ and Jum- 
mabad by escheat, these places being held as dependen- 
cies of the Sooknrchukea Misul. DuL Singh had been 
in disgrace some time before his death. 

The dissensions of the four sons of Tymoor Shah, 
HuMAYOON, MuHMOOD, Shah Zuman, and Shah 
Shoojah, began at this time to produce distractions in 
the Afghan empire, which led to the royal authority 
being every where held in contempt. Runjeet Singh 
was encouraged by this state of things to direct his views 
westward, and after a Duseria, passed in more than ordi- 
nary excess at Lahdr, he determined in the year 1804 to 
seek further aggrandizement by the seizure of the depen- 
dencies of that empire, east of the Indus. He accord- 
ingly crossed the Ravee in October; and, having the 
Aloowala chief in attendance, moved to Ramhugur on 
the Chunab, and thence to Jhnng, held by Ahmed Khan, 
a chief of considerable note. The Khan made his sub- 
mission, and bought off the invaders. Saheewal and 
Kot Maharaja, possessions of two Balooch Moosulmans, 
were next visited, and an acknowledgment of supre- 
macy with presents of horses and other gifts, saved them 
from ravage. As the season advanced preparation was 
made to visit the neighbonrhood of Mooltan, but the 
governor Mozuffur Khan anticipated the design, and 
averted the evil from his subjects and dependents by the 
transmission of timely and rich presents. Relations 
were then established with all the Moosulman chiefs and 

* Formerly Aleepoor, a posBession of the Chitta Moosulmans. The. 
name was changed oy the Sikhs on their capturing the place in 1770. 



A. D. 1806. RUNJEEr VISITS HURDWAR. 67 

families settled about the Cbiinab and Jhylatn ; and, 
altUoagh the amount obtained in this first visit in the. 
way of tribute, or by gifts, was not large, the effect 
of the operations of the season was beneficial for the 
ulterior views of the aspiring Sikh, for the chiefs, as 
far as the Indus, began to see to what quarter their hopes 
and fears must thenceforward be directed : most of them 
at once made their election for submission to the ruler of 
Labor, and withdrew from this period from further con- 
nexion with the Kabool court or its officers. 

In February 1805 Runjeet Singh returned to his 
capital, which was now established at Lahdr, and cele- 
brating there the Hoolee Saturnalia, he went afterwards 
with a slight attendance to the annual fair held at the 
time of performing ablutions in the Ganges at Hurdwar. 
The ceremonies of his religion being there completed, hei 
returned towards the beginning of June, and employed the 
rains in farming oat the revenues of the districts retained 
in his personal administration to the highest bidders. This 
has ever been his only scheme of revenue managements 
The farmer has full powers even of life and death over 
those committed to his tender mercies, and his lease is a 
mere licence to rob. 

After the Dusera of 1805, the Sikh army was again led 
by Runjeet Singh into the Mohummedan Territory be« 
tween the Chunab and Indus, and the chief of Jhung was 
called upon to settle for an annual tribute, the demand 
upon him being now raised to 120,000 rupees. Before 
however this negociation could be brought to a conclusion, 
Runjeet Singh was recalled by intelligence of the near 
approach of Juswunt Rao Holkur and Ameee Khan 

H 



58 HOLKUR'S flight to liAHOR. A. B. 1805-6. 

from the east, pursued by the British army under Lord 
Lake. Futeh Singh Aloowala was accordingly 
left to make arrangements with the chiefs of the west, 
and RuNJEET hasteningback in person to Umritsur, met 
there the fugitive Muhratta, with whom he had no easy 
part to play. Juswunt Rao threatened to continue 
his flight westward towards the Kabool dominions. 
Lord Lake however had arrived on the Beah or Beas, 
and was prepared to follow, and it was neither convenient 
nor wise to permit operations of the kind that must 
ensue, to be carried on in the Punjab. On the other hand 
RuNJEET Singh, though he would have proved an use- 
ful auxiliary to either party, was sensible of his inability 
to offer open resistance. In this state of things the rela- 
tions he maintained with Juswunt Rao Holkur were 
friendly, but not encouraging, and that chief being disap- 
pointed in the hope of raising the Sikh nation to a 
co-operation in hostility with him against the British, 
yielded to the difficulties by which he was surrounded, 
and made his terms with Lord Lake in a treaty conclud- 
ed on the 24th December 1805. Friendly engagements 
were further exchanged by the British Commander with 
RuNJEET Singh, and the Aloowala Sirdar ; and in the 
course of January 1806 the two armies, which had inspired 
so much alarm in the Punjab, returned to Hindoostan, 
leaving the Sikh chiefs to celebrate the Hoolee unembar- 
rassed by their presence, and with joy and rejoicings 
commensurate to the fears they had entertained. Run J ebt 
Singh's excesses at this festival produced a disease which 
confined him for four months. Towards the end of the 
rains, he re-appeared in a new field, and entered on mea- 
sures which in their sequel had material influence on bis 
future destiny and fortunes. 



A. D. 1806. RUNJEET CROSSES THE SUTLEJ. 69 

The Rajas of Puteeala and Naba were at feud on 
account of some lands, situated between the village of 
Doluddee and the town and fort of Naba. The Jheend 
chief. Raja Bhag Singh, was the ally of Naba, and so 
were the Ladwa and Ky thul chiefs, but their united forces 
were unequal to a contest with their powerful neighbour 
of Puteeala. In this extremity, Bhag Singh, of Jheend, 
the maternal uncle of Runjeet, was deputed to invite 
his assistance to the weaker party ; and, the Dusera was 
no sooner over, than the ruler of Labor hastened across 
the Sutlej to take part in this quarrel. He passed the 
river at Loodeeana, and mastering the place, presented it 
to Raja Bhag Singh in exclusion of Ranee Nooroon- 
NissA, mother of Rao Ilias, to whom it had belonged. 
Saneewal was next seized from another defenceless 
widow,* this class of occupants being regarded by RuN- 
JEET as his legitimate prey. The place was given in 
Jageer to MohkumChund Dewan, but restored after- 
wards on realization of a Nuzurana of 30,000 Rupees. 
Driving the Puteeala troops out of Doluddee, the invader 
approached Munsoorpoor, where Maha . Raja Saheb 
Singh, successortoUMUR Singh, was in position with his 
main body. The Maha Raja, by a sum of money and the 
present of apiece of artillery, propitiated the Lah6r chief, 
and JuswUNT Singh, of Naba, contributed also to satis- 
fy his cupidity, whereupon he was induced to remove the 
scourge of his ill-organized all-ravaging army back into 
the Punjab. Doluddee was restored to Puteeala at the 
intercession of Raja Bhag Singh, and Runjeet Singh 
taking the opportunity to pass the Dewalee and perform 
bis ablutions in the holy tank of Thanesur, re-crossed the 

• Maee Li;ch,hmee, widow of Sodha Singh— She invited the aid of 
Runjeet Singh, being at issue with her son, who held her at the time in 
confinement. 

H 2 



60 KASOOR TAKEN. A. D. 1806-7. 

Sutlej after that festival, and bent his course via Rahoon, 
the residence of Tara Singh Ghyba=^ to the holy fires 
of Jawala Mookhee. Here he met Raja SUNSAR Chund^ 
of Kangra, who solicited his aid against Umur Singh, 
the Goorkha commander, before whom all the chiefs of the 
hills, from the Gogra to the Sutlej, had fallen in succession, 
and whose detachments were then ravaging Kangra. 
The price demanded by Runjeet for his services being 
deemed excessive, the interview led to no present 
arrangement between the chiefs, but as the difficulties of 
the Hill Raja increased, the negociation was afterwards 
renewed. 

The year 1807 was marked by the lapse and resump- 
tion of Pursroor and Chumara, possessions of NuR 
Singh deceased, an old Sikh Sirdar. A Jageer for 
mere subsistence was assigned to the son. Runjeet 
next prepared a formidable expedition against Kasoor, 
which had long been a thorn in the side of his power, and 
from the conquest of which, as being a Moosulman pos- 
session, he hoped for an access of credit and popularity 
amongst his own sect and nation. In February 1807 he 
invaded the territory with a large force, and Kootub- 
ood-deen was compelled to shut himself up in bis for- 
tress at Kasoor. Internal seditions and broils completed 
the ruin of this Putban family, and in Marcb the chief 
surrendered at discretion. He was left in possession of 
a small territory south of the Sutlej, and bound to furnish 
a contingent of troops on demand. Kasoor itself and 

* Captain Wade states that Tara Singh died during this expedition, 
and that on this occasion Runjeet Singh made an acquisition of eight lakhs 
of Rupees in cash, and of the jewels of the deceased chief, which were of 
great value. The treasure is alleged to be the first of any extent that was 
so obtained. Captain Murray, however, places the death of Tara Singh 
in 1807-8, during the second expedition of Kunjeet Singh across the Sut- 
lej, and Captain W. appears to have confounded the two visits. 



INTRIGUES IN PUTEEALA. , 61 

all the territory held by the family in the Punjab was 
resumed, and assigned for the present in Jageer to Nyaj* 
Singh Utharawala, From Kasoor, Runjeet Singh 
proceeded S. W. towards Mooltan, and occupied and 
kept garrisons in various dependencies of that govern- 
ment. In April the town of Mooltan was mastered, but 
the governor held out the fort, into which the principal 
inhabitaDts had retired with their valuables. Being unpro- 
vided with the means of siege, Runjeet accepted a sum 
of money from MozUFFUR Khan, and returned to Lalior 
in Mav. In the interval before the rains, he detached a 
force against Deena-nugur under the Kangra hills, and 
levied exactions in that neighbourhood from several 
Sikh and mountain chiefs, who had hitherto enjoyed im- 
munity from their dependence on the Ghunee Misul,^ 
with the head of which, SuDA KooNWUR, Runjeet 
stood in such close relation. The measure gave offence 
to that lady, and the foundation was thus laid for the 
differences and intrigues which led eventually to her ruin. 

The wife of the Puteeala Raja was an ambitious 
intriguing woman who had long sought to set aside her 
husband, or at least to procure the assignment of a sepa- 
rate territory for her minor son KuRUM Singh. When 
JuswuNT Rao HoLKUR passed through Puteeala on his 
way to the Punjab, she had endeavoured to make him in- 
strumental to her views, and that wily chief made the state 
of things which prevailed, conducive to bis own enrich- 
ment, but being pressed for time, in consequence of tha 
approach of Lord Lake, he left matters between the Raja 
and Ranee as they were. The quarrel being now renew- 
ed, the Ranee sent, in the rains of 1807, to invite RuN- 
jbet Singh to espouse her cause, promising him a 



62 RUNJEET AGAIN CROSSES THE SUTLEJ. A. D. 1807. 

famous brass piece of ordnance belonging to the faofiily, 
and wliich bore the name of KuREE Kahn, and, also a 
diamond necklace of known valae, as the price of his 
assistance. The Labor chief gladly seized the occasion to 
interfere, and crossed the Sutlej at Hureeke-Patun, 
where that river is joined by the Beah. In the month 6f 
September, on his route towards Puteeala, he seized all 
the remaining possessions of the deceased Ilias-Raee, 
and distributed them amongst his dependents and allies. 
Before Runjeet Singh reached Puteeala, the Raja and 
Ranee had come to a reconciliation, the latter having, 
through the mediation of the Jheend and Than^sur 
chiefs, obtained for her son a separate Jageer of 
50,000 Rupees per annum. The Raja now made some 
demur to render up the gun and necklace promised by 
his Ranee, but Runjeet Singh appealed to the invita- 
tion he had received, and his appeal being backed by the 
condition of his force, the two articles were given up 
according to promise, though with evident reluctance ; 
and Runjeet marched with them in possession to reduce 
Nurayutigurh, which was surrendered, and made over to 
the Aloowala chief, after an unsuccessful attempt to take 
it by storm, \^hich was attended with a loss of near 400 
killed and wounded. 

While engaged before Nurayungurh, the old chief 
Tara Singh Ghyba, who was serving with Runjeet 
Singh, died, and his followers secretly conveyed the 
corpse across the Sutlej to his fort of Rahoon, where the 
funeral obsequies were performed, and the widow and 
sons made preparation to maintain their possessions. 
While the body however was yet on the pyre, Runjeet 
Singh's detachment, whichhad followed on theevent being 



A. D. 1807. BIRTH OF SHEER SINGH. 63 

ascertained, arrived to demand a surrender of treasures, 
and to enforce a resumption of the chiefs territory. After 
a slight resistance, the family was compelled to submit, and 
though the sons at first received a small provision for 
subsistence, they were soon deprived of even this means 
of support, and have since lived in indigence. On his 
route back from Nurayungurh, Runjeet Singh seized 
Moonda, south of the Sutlej, from the son of Dhurum 
Singh, and sold it to the Jheend Sirdar : and Bhulolpoor 
and Bhurtgurh were similarly taken from Bhughaeel 
Singh's widow. In December, Runjeet Singh re- 
turned to Lahdr, and was presented by his wife, Mehtab- 
KooNWUR, with twins. The boys were named Sheer 
Singh and Tara Singh, but Runjeet has never fully 
acknowledged them as his own offspring. Mehtab-Koon- 
WUR's fidelity had for some time been suspected by her 
husband, and she had, in consequence, been living with her 
mother, Suda Koon WUR. The report ran, that the boys 
were procured by the latter from a carpenter and weaver, 
and were produced as born to her daughter, the public 
liaving for some time previously been prepared for the 
birth, by reports circulated of Mehtab being with child. 
Sheer Singh has latterly been honored with military 
commands and a Jageer, and was fortunate in having 
been the leader of the expedition, wherein the Mohum- 
medan pretender, Seyud Ahmed was slain in 1831; but 
neither before nor since this event, has he ever been 
recognized by Runjeet as his own son, and Tara 
Singh is treated with uniform neglect. 

The commencement of 1808 wasmarked-by the seizure 
of Pathun Kot, under the Kangra hills, belonging to 
J YMUL Ghunea, and by exactions from chiefs in the hills 



64 ALARM OF EASTERN CHIEFS. A. B. 1808« 

and plains in that direction. Mohkum Chund Dbwan 
was employed simultaneously in settling arrangements 
with the dependents of the Duleeala Misul, at the head of 
which Tara Singh Ghyba had continued, while he lived. 
Most of the feudatories were confirmed on jdieir agreeing 
to transfer their allegiance, and furnish contingents of horse 
to be constantly in attendance. Seeal-Kot and Sheikhoo* 
poora, south of the Sutlej, were next seized, and annexed 
to the immediate territory of the Lahor chief by Mohkum 
Chund, and the Dewan being kept in the field during 
the rains, seized various other places on both sides of the 
Sutlej, from the Anundpoor Mukawal valley downwards^ 
and confirmed to his master all that had formerly be- 
longed to Tara Singh or to Bhughaeel Singh. 

The extensive permanent occupations and usurpations, 
thus made by Runjeet Singh on the east and south 
banks of the Sutlej, excited the alarm of the Sikh 
chiefs, situated between that river and the Jumna, and, 
after a conference, it was determined by them, to send 
a mission to Dehlee, composed of Raja Bhag Singh, of 
Jheend,BHAEELAL Singh, ofKythul, and Chyn Singh 
Dewan, of Puteeala, in order to solicit that their posses- 
sions might be taken under the protection of the British 
Government. The mission reached Dehlee, and waited 
on Mr. S ETON, the Resident, in March 1808. The an- 
swer they received, though not decisive, was encouraging 
to their hope, that the Lah6r ruler would not be sufiered 
to extend his usurpations eastward, to their prejudice 
and eventual annihilation. Intelligence of this mission, 
however, no sooner reached Labor, than Runjeet 
Singh, feeling disquieted, dispatched agents to invite 
the three chiefs who composed it to wait upon him, that 



A. A. 1B08. BRITISH MISSION TO LAHOR. 65 

he might endeavour to allay their fears. They accord* 
ingly went to his camp at Umritsur, where they were 
received with marked favor and attentions, and no effort 
was spared in the endeavour to detach them from the 
design of forming any connexion with the British 60^ 
vernment. 

Pending these transactions, the alarm of an invasion of 
India being meditated by the French Emperor, Napo- 
leon Buonaparte, becoming rife, Lord Minto deter- 
mined to send missions to ascertain the condition of the 
countries intervening, and the feeling of the rulers, 
chiefs, and people. The growing power of Run J EST 
Singh, whose authority was now completely established 
in the Punjab, made it essential to include his court, and 
the collision threatened by the recent proceedings and 
known designs of Run J eet, east of the Sutlej, formed an 
additional motive for deputing a British Agent to Lahdr. 
Mr. now Sir Charles Metcalfe, was the negoci- 
ator selected on this occasion, and the announcement 
of the intended deputation was received by Run J eet 
Singh, while the Jheend and Kythul chiefs were in 
attendance on him. To them the contents of the des- 
patch were communicated, and the matter formed the 
sabject of much anxious conference and deliberation. 
It was determined to receive Mr. Metcalfe at Kasoor, 
whither RuNJEET marched for the purpose in September 
1808. On the envoy's arrival, he was received with 
the usual attentions, but had scarcely found the opportu- 
nity to enter on the subjects proposed for discussion with 
the Sikh chief, when the latter suddenly broke up his 
camp from Kasoor, and crossed the Sutlej with his army. 
Forced- Kot was immediately occupied by him and made 

I 



66 RUNJEET AGAIN CROSSES THE SUTLEJ. A.D. 180&. 

over to SudaKoonwur in ejection of Goolab Singh, 
and RuNJEET then proceeded against the Moosulman 
possession of Muler Kotila. Tlie Puthan family hold- 
ing it was reduced to extremity, and agreed to a large 
money payment, giving a bond of a lakh of rupees, to which 
the Pnteeala Raja was induced, by the deposit of some 
strongholds, to be security. Mr. Metcalfe accompanied 
RuNJEET Singh to Fureed-Kot, but refused to counte- 
nance any military operations east of theSutlej. He ac- 
cordingly remained near that river until his Govern- 
ment should determine what to do in the juncture, and 
addressed in the interval a strong remonstrance against 
such aggressions, committed in the very face of his 
proposition to make the matter the subject of discussion 
and negociation between the Governments. In the mean 
time RuNJEET Singh continued his progress to Umbala, 
which with its dependencies, he seized, and made over to 
the Naba and Kythul chiefs. He then exacted tribute 
from Shahabad and Thanesur, and returning by Puteeala, 
made a brotherly exchange of turbanf s with the weak 
Raja Saheb Singh. After this expedition he again 
gave Mr. Metcalfe the meeting at Umritsur. The 
Government at Calcutta had in October determined on 
its course, and the envoy was now instructed to avow, 
that the country between the Sutlej and the Jumna was 
under British protection, and although that Government 
had no design to require the surrender of possessions 
occupied before its interposition, it must insist on the 
restoration of all that had been seized during the late expe- 
dition of Runjeet Singh. To enforce this demand, and 
support the negociation, a body of troops was advanced to 
the frontier under Colonel, afterwards Sir David Och- 
terlony, and an army of reserve was formed and placed 



A. D. iaa9. ADVANCE OF BRITISH ARMY. 67 

nnder the command of Major General St. Leger, to be 
prepared for any extended operations, the activity, and 
supposed hostile designs of Runjeet Singh might ren- 
der necessary. 

Colonel OcHTERLONY crossed the Jumna at Booreea 
on the 16th January 1809, and as he approached Umbala, 
Runjeet Singh's detachment left there retired to the 
Sutlej. Taking en route the several places visited by the 
Sikh army, the British commander reached Loodeeana 
on the Sutlej, and took up a position there on the 18th 
February following. His march viras hailed by the people 
and chiefs, as affording the promise of future protection 
and tranquillity, and they vied with one another in the 
display of their gratitude and satisfaction. 

Up to this period, Runjeet Singh had maintained 
in the conferences to which the envoy was admitted, that 
the Jumna, and not the Sutlej, was the proper boundary 
of the British possessions, and that in right of his supre- 
macy over the Sikh nation, no less than as Governor of 
Labor, he was. warranted in asserting feudal superiority 
over all the chiefs of that nation between those two rivers. 
The existing independence of Pnteeala and the other 
principalities, had no weight in argument with a chiefs 
whose domination was the right to plunder and usurp, 
according to the condition of his army, and who aimed 
only to secure himself this. The arrival of Colonel OcH- 
terlony on the Sutlej, however, opened his eyes to a 
new fear, which was, that if he longer resisted, offers of 
protection might be made to chiefs in the Punjab, which 
would effectually curb his ambitious views, and must 
involve him in collision — and, perhaps, hostility, with a 

I 2 



68 NEGOCIATIONS. A. D. 1809. 

power he never thoogkt himself capable of seriously 
opposing in the field. His resolations were hastened by 
an event that occarred in his camp. The Moburrum» the 
first and sacred month of the Mohammedans^ commenced 
in 1809 towards the end of February, and the followers 
of this faith, in the suite of the envoy, prepared to cele- 
brate the deaths of HusUN and Hoosein, the two sons 
of Ulee, with the usual ceremonies. The Akalees, or 
fanatic priests of the Sikhs, took umbrage at this per- 
formance of Mooslim rites in the Sikh camp, and at 
Umritsur; and collecting in a body, headed by Phoola 
Singh, a bigot of notorious turbulence, they opened a 
fire of matchlocks, and attacked the envoy's camp. The 
escort was called out, and though composed of two compa- 
nies of Native Infantry and sixteen troopers only, this small 
body charged and routed their party, after which, the biers 
were buried with the usual forms. Runjeet himself 
came np at the close of the fight ; and immediately 
it was over, advanced in person to make apologies to the 
envoy, expressing his admiration of the discipline and 
order displayed by the British detachment, and promis- 
ing his best exertions to prevent any repetition of such 
disorders. The circumstance made an impression on his 
mind as to the unfitness of his own troops to cope with 
those under European discipline, and determined him ta 
secure peace and friendship at the sacrifices demanded. 

The British Government were sensible, that, having 
interfered to impose restraints on the ambition of 
KuNJEET SiNGH> it had little to expect from bis friend- 
ship in case of any necessity arising to arm against inva« 
sion from the west. Had danger, indeed, from that quar- 
ter been more imminent, it would probably have been 



A.D. 1800. TREATY WITH RUNJEET. 69 

deemed politic to extend our direct influence farther into 
the Punjab, in reduction of the power of a chief who 
showed himself so anfriendly. But by the time arrange- 
ments had to be concluded, the apprehension of any 
necessity of preparation for such an event had worn off, 
and the only object that remained was, to secure our own 
frontier, and for the credit of our power to take redress 
for the offensive aggressions which the Lah6r ruler had 
recently committed east of the Sutlej. Run jeet Singh 
expressed a strong desire at this time to obtain a written 
pledge of our pacific and friendly intentions towards him-^ 
self; and the restoration of the places seized during his 
late inroad having been obtained from him, a short treaty 
declaratory of mutual peace and friendship was conclud- / / 
ed by the envoy, at Umritsur, on the 25th April, 1809. (?^^^^/^ 
It was to the following effect : — >*f ^ /^^^ 



After the nsnal preamble expressive of the desire for 
peace, and stating by whom the engagement was settled, 

'' Article the First. — Perpetual friendship shall subsist 
*^ between the British Government and the State of Lahdr : 
*^ the latter shall be considered with respect to the for- 
** mer, to be on the footing of the most favored powers^ 
** and the British Government will have no concern with 
** the territories and subjects of the Raja to the north- 
** ward of the river Sutlej. 

** Article Second. — ^The Raja will never maintain in 
** the territory, which he occupies on the left bank of the 
** Sutlej, more troops than are necessary for the internal 
** duties of the territory, nor commit or suffer any encroach- 
** ment on the possessions or rights of the chiefs in its 
" vicinity. 






70 ITS EFFECT. A. D. 1808, 

" Article Third. — In the event of a violation of any of 
" the preceding articles, or of a departure from the rales 
" of friendship on the part of either State, this treaty shall 
*' be considered to be null and void." The fourth and 
last article, provides for the exchange of ratifications. 

The treaty being concluded, Mr. Metcalfe came 
away on the 1st May following. All further discussions 
with RuNJEET Singh were then dropped, and it became 
a principle in all relations with this chief to confine com- 
munications, as much as possible, to friendly letters and 
the exchange of presents, but the British officers on the 
frontier, were instructed to watch the proceedings of 
RcJNJEETi Singh, and to require instant redress, in case 
of any infringement of the terms of the treaty, by inter- 
ference with, or encroachment on the rights and territo- 
ries of Chiefs and Sirdars, east or south of the river Sut- 
lej. The continued prosecution of this course of policy to 
the present date, has weaned the chief from all apprehen- 
sion of danger to his own authority, from the ulterior * 
views for which he long gave us credit ; and there is now 
established between the two powers as complete and per- 
fect a good-fellowship as can exist with states constituted 
like those of India. It is based however on no better 
foundation than the personal character of Runjeet 
Singh, and his personal conviction that the British 
Government desires to see him prosperous and powerful,' 
and would regard the extinction of his rule, and the con- 
fusion and convulsions which must follow, as a serious evil 
of mischievous influence to itself. Of this however, more 
hereafter. 



CHAPTER FIFTH. 



A. D. 1809 to 1811. 



British arrangements with the Chiefs east of the Sutlej* 
Transactions in the Punjab tending to the further 
aggrandizement of Runjeet Singh, 

JLHE declarations with which the British force under 
Colonel OcHTERLONY advanced to the Sutlej, were in 
strict conformity with the application, made by the chiefs 
occapying the country between the Indus and Sutlej, 
through the mission deputed by them to Dehlee in March 
1808. Protection was promised, and no demand of 
tribute or of contribution of any kind made, to defray the 
charges incurred by the obligation to afford it. The 
recency of their experience of the rapacity of a Sikh 
army, and the conviction that there could be no security 
to themselves, and still less to their families, under a ruler 
like the chief who had now the ascendant in the Sikh 
nation, made all the Sirdars rejoice that their prayer had 
been acceded to by the British Government ; and the 
advance of its forces to the Sutlej was looked upon in 
consequence with no jealousy, but as a measure necessary 
to effect the purpose contemplated. 



72 BRITISH DECLARATION OF PROTECTION. A.D. 1809w 

A treaty having been now concluded with Runjeet 
Singh, it became necessary to fix, somewhat more speci- 
fically than had been hitherto done, the relations that were 
to subsist henceforward between the protecting power 
and its protected dependents. It was determined to give 
the desired explanation of the views of the British 
Government on this subject, by a general proclamation, 
rather than by entering into any separate engagement 
with the numerous chiefs afi^ected by the measure. Ac- 
cordingly on the 6th May 1809, an Italanama, or general 
declaration, was circulated to the Sirdars, intimating to 
them as follows. 

First. That the territories of Sirhind and Malooa, (the 
designation assumed by the Sikhs of Puteeala, Naba, 
Jheend, and Kythul) had been taken under British pro- 
tection, and Runjeet Singh had bound himself by treaty 
to exercise in future no interference therein. 

Second. That it was not the intention of the British 
Government to demand any tribute from the Chiefs and 
Sirdars benefiting by this arrangement. 

Third. That the Chiefs and Sirdars would be permit- 
ted to exercise, and were for the future secured in, the 
rights and authorities they possessed in their respective 
territories prior to, find at the time of the declaration of 
protection by the British Government. 

Fourth. That the Chiefs and Sirdars should be bourn} 
to offer every facility and accommodation to British 
troops and detacbn^nts, employed ia securing the prote<> 
tion guaranteed, or for purposes otherwise connected with 



A. D. 1809. OBLIGATIONS UNDER IT. 78 

the general interests of the state, whenever the same 
might be marched into, or stationed in, their respective 
territories. 

Fifth. In case of invasion or war, the Sirdars were to 
join the British standard with their followers, whenever 
called npon. 

Sixth. Merchants conveying articles, the produce of 
Europe, for the use of the detachments atLoodeeana, or of 
any other British force or detachment, should not be sub- 
ject to transit duty, but must be protected in their passage 
through the Sikh country. 

Seventh. In like manner horses for the cavalry when 
furnished with passports from competent officers, must be 
exempt from all tax. 

The above declaration being published and circulated, 
became the charter of rights, to which the chiefs have 
since looked, and appealed, for the settlement of all ques- 
tions that have arisen between them and the British 
Government. The matters specifically provided for, were 
those that immediately pressed. There has been much 
however of intricate dispute between rival candidates for 
Sirdarees ; — between chiefs who had divided their terri- 
tory before the declaration of protection was published, 
and had bound themselves to their co-proprietors by 
mutual obligations ; between chiefs and their dependents 
of the Sikh nation, as well as Zumeendars, as to the 
extent of right and authority possessed at the time of 
the declaration of protection ; — and, perhaps more than 
all, boundary disputes and quarrels regarding participated 



74 COLONEL OCHTERLON\'S MEASURES. A. D. 1812. 

rights. These differences, whenever they have arisen, 
have required adjustment and arbitration by the British 
officers on the spot, and have formed the subject of con- 
tinual references to the Supreme Government at Cal- 
cutta. The regulation of successions was also a matter, 
that from the first required to be undertaken by the pro- 
tecting authority, and failing heirs of any kind according 
to Sikh custom and law, the escheat is considered to fall 
to the protecting state. 

Until the year 1812, the duties of protection, and the 
settlement of these mutual disputes, though giving con- 
stant employment to Colonel Ochterlony, the British 
officer, appointed superintendent of Sikh affairs, produc- 
ed nothing of sufficient moment to require relation. In 
that year, however, the disorders in Puteeala consequent 
upon the Raja's imbecility, produced a crisis that called 
for an exertion of^ authoritative interference. The pro- 
tected territory was invaded by a public depredator, for 
whose punishment and expulsion the Puteeala Raja was 
called upon to furnish a quota of horse. This chief holds 
territory yielding a revenue of more than thirty lakhs of 
rupees, yet the whole force he could furnish on the 
occasion consisted only of two hundred horse of the very 
worst description, and these arrived so late in the field a3 
to be of no use. Colonel Ochterlony, taking with 
him the Chiefs of Jheend and Naba, proceeded to Putee- 
ala to remonstrate with Muha Raja Saheb Singh upon 
the evidence of inefficiency afforded by this state of things, 
and it was endeavoured to persuade him to discard th^ 
low favorites: who ate up his revenues, and prevented 
those better disposed from carrying on any consistent 
system of government, and from introducing the desired 



A. D. 1312. PUTSEALA RAJA DEPOSED. 75 

improvements into the administration. , The attempt to 
procure a change of ministers by persuasion failed, but 
the Raja made many professions of a determination to 
exert himself to effect the desired reforms. Being left 
again to himself, his conduct became so violent and irre- 
gular, as to betray symptoms of an aberration of reason ^ 
and the Colonel was compelled to proceed again to his 
capital, in order to allow his outraged subjects and depen- 
dents to put things on a better footing, and to prevent 
the Raja's removal from power from producing convul- 
sions, or a breach of the general tranquillity. Saheb 
Singh was now deposed, and placed under limited 
restraint. AsKOOR Ranee, his wife, in association 
with a shrewd Brahmin minister named Nundee Rao, 
was appointed regent for the heir-apparent, the pre- 
sent Raja, KuRUM Singh, who was then a minor, and 
affairs were conducted in his name. Maharaja Saheb 
Singh died a few months after his deposal. The 
Ranee's doubtful reputation for chastity, and knowa 
character for turbulence and intrigue, made her admi^ 
nistration unpopular, while the profusions of Saheb 
Singh had secured him many partisans. Hence the part 
taken by the British Superintendent in the establishment 
of this scheme of administration, although his motives 
were appreciated by the discerning, made a great sensa- 
tion amongst the Sikhs, by the lower order of whom, and 
particularly by the turbulent, and designing, the Raja's 
removal from power was regarded as an act of tyranny and 
injustice, produced by intrigue, and influenced by worse 
motives. When Colonel Ochterlony was at Puteeala, 
in prosecution of these measures, he was attacked in his 
palanquin by an Ak&lee fanatic, who with his drawn sword 
had nearly taken the Colonel's life. He escaped, however, 

K 2 



76 RUNJEET PROCEEDS INTO THE HILLS. A. D. 1809; 

with slight wounds by seizing hold of the sword, and 
the assassin being secured^ was sentenced to be confined 
for life at Dehlee. 



In the above notice of occurrences east of the Sutlej^ 
the events of the Punjab have been anticipated. It is 
now time to resume the narrative of Runjeet Singh's 
usurpations, and of the expeditions and enterprizes by 
which he consolidated and extended his dominions. 

The first operation in which the Lah6r army was engag- 
ed after Mr. Metcalfe's departure in May, 1809, was 
against Kangra, in the hills ; but before moving in that 
direction, Runjeet Singh gave order to place the fort 
of Feel6r, on the Sutlej opposite to Loodeeana, and also 
Govind-gurh, in Umritsur, where his treasure was, and 
still is deposited, in the best possible condition for de- 
fence. The walls were rebuilt, and a deep ditch, scarped 
with masonry, was added to the works of both strong- 
holds, which being completed, the chief moved into the 
bills. 

Kangra was at this time besieged by Umur Singh 
Th&pa, the Goorkha commander, but held out against 
him. The garrison, however, being reduced to extremity. 
Raja SuNSAR Chund tendered the place to Runjeet 
Singh, on condition of his lending troops to raise the 
siege, and expel the Goorkhas from the territory west 
and north of the Sutlej. The engagement was gladly 
entered into by Run J eet, and on the 28th May, he arrived 
with his army at Puthan-Kot, in the Jalnndhur Turaee, a 
possession of Jymul Ghuneea, which he seized and 
confiscated. Thence he sent a detachment to strengthen 



^•D. 1809#. GETS POSSESSION OF KANGRA. 75? 

the forces of the confederate hill chiefs, who were at the 
time engaged in the attempt to cut ofTUMUR Singh's sup-> 
plies, and so compel his retirement. Umur Singh made 
an effort to deprecate this interference, and sent to offer 
to Runjeet Singh, a money equivalent for Kangra. 
The fort, however, had a value in the eye of the aspiring 
Sikh, which made him regardless of the temptation offered' 
to his avarice. This stronghold has the reputation in 
Hindoostan of being impregnable. Sunsar Chund> 
notwithstanding his engagement, could not reconcile it 
to his honor to part with the fort, and evaded Runjeet 
Singh's importunity for a Sikh garrison to be admitted 
within its walls. In August, having proceeded in person 
to the vicinity, and being still put off with excuses, the 
Sikh's patience became exhausted. He accordingly 
placed the Raja's son, who was in attendance with him, 
under restraint, and having ascertained that the army of 
Umur Singh was in great straight for supplies, and short 
of ammunition, he directed a chosen body of Sikhs to 
advance boldly to the gate, and demand entrance. They 
suffered considerably in killed and wounded as they 
ascended, but on reaching the gate were received into 
the fort, which thus fell into the power of Runjeet 
Singh, on the 24th of August 1809. Umur Singh 
being foiled in his purpose, and having no desire to involve 
himself with the Sikhs, came to an understanding with 
Runjeet Singh, and, having secured by his connivance 
the means of transport, retired across the Sutlej. 

On the 31st of September, Runjeet Singh having 
completed arrangements with the hill chiefs, and taken 
the. necessary steps to secure his possession of Kangra^ 
fetarned to the Jalundhur Dooab, and seized the Jageer 



78 RE-ORGANIZES HIS ARMY. A. D. 1809. 

of Bhughaeel Singh's eldest widow, who had recently 
died there : his Dewan was similarly employed, in seiz- 
ing the districts of Bhoop Singh Fyzoollapoorea, whose 
person he secured treacherously at an interview. 

It was at this time, and influenced apparently by 
observation of the efficiency and discipline maintained 
by the British Sipahees with Mr. Metcalfe, that RuN- 
JEET Singh commenced the formation of regular batta- 
lions on the British model, entertaining for the purpose 
Poorbees, that is, natives of the Gangetic provinces, 
and Sikhs from the other side of the Sutlej. These he 
formed into bodies of three and four hundred, and procured 
deserters from the British ranks, whom he employed to 
drill them, and nominated to be commanders with superior 
pay. His artillery was also formed into a separate corps 
Under a Darogha, or superintendent; and the cavalry 
attached to himself, he divided into two classes, one called 
the Ghor-chur Suivars, and the other the Ghor-chur>Khas, 
the first being paid in money, and the latter by Jageers, 
both classes however were mounted on horses, the proper- 
ty of the state* 

JoDH Singh, of Vuzeerabad, died towards the close of 
1809; and oh the first day of the new year Runjeet 
Singh Arrived there to enforce the resumption of his 
territorial possessions. A large sum of money was ten* 
dered by GtJNDHA SiNGH, the son of the deceased, as the 
price of his confirmation, and the Lah6r chiefs avarice 
being tempted, he refrained from present occupation of 
the estates, and conferred the Shal and Turband of inves- 
titure on the heir. A dispute between the father and son 
of Goojrat affording the opportunity, he succeeded ia 



A.D. 1810. SHAH SHOOJAH JOINS RUNJEET. 79 

expelling both, and in confiscating that territory ; after 
which, he proceeded to the country east of the Jihlum, as 
far as Saheewal, and exacted tribute and contributions from 
the Balooch and other Moosulman chiefs of that quarter. 

On the 2nd of February, in the midst of these opera- 
tions, it was announced to Runjeet Singh, that Shah- 
Shoo j a was approaching to seek refuge in his territory, 
having been compelled to yield to the ascendancy 
acquired by his brother. Shah Mahmood, through the 
vigour and talents of the Vuzeer Futeh Khan. The 
Ex-Shah joined the camp of Runjeet at Khooshafo on 
the day following, viz. the 3rd February 1810, and was 
received with much outward respect, Runjeet having 
gone forth in person to conduct him in, and sending a 
Zeeafut of 1250 Rs. to his tents upon his alighting. The 
Shah, however, returned to Rawul Pindee on the 12th 
February, to join his brother ZuMAN Shah, leaving 
Runjeet ^ingh to prosecute his operations against 
the Moosulman chiefs east ofthe^^^^psi A succour of 
men and money had been tendered bj^i^li^ Government of 
Kashmeer, and by Ata MoHUMMUlirjEHAN, son of the 
old Vuzeer Sheer Mohummud ; and, thus aided. Shah 
Shooja made an attack on Peshawur, and was received 
there on the 20th of March- In September following, 
however, he was expelled by Mohummud Uzeem, bro- 
ther of Futeh Khan, and driven again across the 
Indus, whereupon he endeavoured to obtain admission 
into Mooltan without effect. In the mean time, however, 
events of interest had occurred in the Punjab. 

The Saheewal chief had accepted terms from Runjeet 
Singh on the 25th of January, but failing to pay the 



80 MOOLTAN BESIEGED. A. D. 1810. 

entire amount agreed upon (80,000 rupees,) that town 
was invested on the 7th February. Futeh Khan, the 
Sirdar, surrendered; but upon some demur in giving up 
a dependency of Saheewal, named Lukhomut, he was sent 
in irons to Lah6r, and kept there in close confinement 
with all his family, the whole of his estate being seques- 
tered. On the 15th February, Runjeet's army was 
before Ooch,h, the proprietors of which place, Seyuds of 
Geelan and Bokhara, waited on the Sikh with horses, and 
this conduct, added to the estimation in which their tribe 
is held for sanctity by both Hindoos and Mohummedans, 
propitiated the chief, and they were left in possession 
under an engagement to pay tribute. On the 20th Febru- 
ary, such was the rapidity with which RuNJEET Singh 
prosecuted his measures, the whole Sikh army was before 
Mooltan ravaging the surrounding territory, consequent- 
ly upon a refusal by Mozuffur Khan to pay the sum 
of three lakhs of rupees, which had been demanded from 
him: Runjeet Singh now demanded the fort of Mool- 
tan, declaring that he desired it for Shah Shooja, to 
whom Mozuffur Khan was bound, and had engaged 
to render it. This specious pretext made no change in 
Mozuffur Khan's resolution to defend the place to the 
utmost. Runjeet Singh reconnoitred, and marked out 
ground for different batteries, and lines of approach, 
assigning them to different chiefs, with the promise of 
rich Jageers to those who made the quickest advance, and 
most impression. Arrangements were made to secure 
the transmission of supplies by water, as well as by land, 
from Lahdr and Umritsur, and every thing betokened a 
determination in the Sikh chief to master this important 
possession. The garrison was not disheartened, but 
made the best dispositions possible for defence. A large 



A.D. 1810. THE SIEGE FAILS. 81 

supply of grain had been laid in» and the fort contained 
an abundance of fresh water. The little impression made 
on the walls by the Sikh artillery confirmed the courage 
of the defenders. The great Bhungee gun, which dis* 
charged a ball of two and a half maunds kuchha, had 
been brought down for the siege, but the materials for 
such an operation were so defective in the Sikh army, 
and the necessary science and experience were so want- 
ing, that RuNJEET Singh having suffered the loss of 
many valuable men and officers, and particularly of Atar 
Singh, a favorite and confidential companion, who was 
blown up in a mine, was compelled to grant terms to 
MozUFFUR Khan, and retired on receiving payment of 
a lakh and 80,000 rupees. On the 25th of April, he 
returned to Lahdr, mortified greatly by his ill success, and 
throwing the blame on his officers and Jageerdars. He 
now devoted himself to increase the number of his regular 
battalions, and formed a corps of Sikhs, called, ** Orderly 
Khas,'^ or select orderlies, to whom he gave superior pay, 
and the advantage of carrying his dusfuks, or orders, ta 
chiefs, and districts, on whom they were thus billeted at 
high rates. A horse artillery was likewise formed, and 
improvements were set on foot in every branch of the ser- 
vice, which were all closely superintended by Runjebt 
in person. 

Gundha Singh, who in January preceding, bad 
secured by the sacrifice of his father's treasures, a tern* 
porary confirmation of his estates, did not long enjoy 
what he purchased so dearly. In June 1810, a strong 
detachment was sent to Vuzeerabad, and the entire 
possessions of the late JoDH Singh were sequestered, a 
few villages only being left to .afford subsistence to the 



82 AN INSTANCE OF BAD FAITH. A. D. 181Q 

youthful victim of this insidious policy. The surviving 
widow of Bhugaeel Singh, Ranee Ram-Koonwur, 
was at the same time expelled from Buhadurpoor, which 
she held as a Jageer for subsistence. She took refuge at 
Loodeeana, and obtained a few villages which had belong- 
ed to her husband, on the protected side of the Sutlej. 

• 

• After the Dussera, in the month of October following, 
RuNJEET Singh moved in person to Ramnugur, on the 
Chunab, and summoned to his presence Nidhan Singh 
of Huttoo. . The Chief refused attendance, except under 
guarantee of a Sodee, or Sikh priest, whereupon his fort 
of Dushut was invested on the 17th October. RuNJEET 
Singh's batteries, however, opened against the place 
without avail in producing a surrender, and an attempt 
made to influence the garrison, by severities, and ill usage 
of their wives and families, who fell into the besieger's 
power, was equally ineffective. The Sikh Priest Bydee 
JUMEEYUT Singh was then employed to mediate for 
the submission of this spirited Chief, and upon his 
guarantee and the promise of a Jageer, the Sirdar waited 
on RuNJEET Singh, who regardless of the solemnity 
of the engagement he had contracted, put him in irons 
on the 30th October. In the beginning of Novem- 
ber, Bagh Singh Huloowala, with his son Soobha 
Singh, who were in camp with their followers, fell under 
the displeasure of the Lah6r Chief, and were placed 
under restraint, and all their territorial possessions 
confiscated; after which Runjeet Singh returned to 
his capital, and detached Mohkum-Chund Dewan to 
enforce the collection of tribute, and to complete arrange- 
ments in the hills, where the Rajas of Bhimbhur and 
Rajaoree, and the tribe of Chibh-Bhdo, were refractory*. 



A.D. 1810-11. SHAH MVHMOOD CROSSES THE INDUS. 63 

In December ISIO, Saheb Singh, who had been 
expelled from Goojrat, was invited to return, and invest- 
ed with a considerable Jageer, and Bagh Singh 
Holoowala was released from conGnement, and similarly 
honored. In the same month, the release of Nidhan 
Singh was obtained by the Bydee priests, who felt 
their honor concerned in his treatment, after one of their 
body had been inveigled to give a personal guarantee. 
They accordingly sat Dhurna on Runjeet, until he con- 
sented to release his prisoner: NiDHAN Singh would^ 
however, accept no Jageer, or stipend, but retired from 
the Lahdr dominions, and took service with the governor 
ofKashmeer. 

In January 1811, Futeh Khan, of Saheewal, was 
liberated with his family at the intercession of an Oodasee 
priest, and retired to Bnhawulpoor. A small Jageer 
was likewise conferred on Dhurum Singh, the ejected 
proprietor ofDhurum-Kot, in the Jalundhur, after which, 
Runjeet Singh proceeded on a tour to Pind-Dadur- 
Khan, in which vicinity he captured three small forts 
belonging to Moosulman Chiefs ; but on the 24th Febru- 
ary, intelligence reached his camp, that Shah Muhmood 
had crossed the Indus with 12,000 Afghans, before whom 
the inhabitants of the country were flying. Runjeet 
Singh immediately took up a position at Rawul-Pindee, 
and deputed his secretary, Hukeem Uzeez-ood-Deen, 
to enquire of the Shah his views in this incursion. This 
agent was crossed by emissaries from the Shah, on their 
way to Rawul-Pindee, for the purpose of explaining, that 
the punishment of Ata Mohummud, and the governors 
of Atuk and Kashmeer, who had aided Shah Shoojah's 
late attempt on Peshawur, was the only object of the 

L 2 



64 KHOOSHHAL SINGH'S RISE TO FAVOR. A. D. 1811, 

present march; whereupon Runjeet Singh, being 
relieved from his apprehensions, waited upon the Shah, and 
after a friendly interview, both returned to their respec- 
tive capitals. Runjeet Singh found at Lah6r, a car- 
riage from Calcutta, which had been forwarded as a 
present from the Governor General, Lord Minto. This 
being the first vehicle on springs, in which he had ever 
sat, the novelty and ease of motion were highly gratify* 
ing to him, and an agent was deputed to Calcutta to 
make suitable acknowledgments for the present. The 
Chief, however, was too wily to adopt generally this mode 
of conveyance, which would have imposed the necessity 
of first making roads. 

In April and May, Runjeet Singh had armies in 
three directions, one about Kangra, collecting tributes, 
a second acting against Bhimbhur and Regaoree, and the 
third, under his son Khuruk Singh, accompanied by 
Dewan Mohkum Chunp, resuming the possessions of 
the Nukee Chiefs. Runjeet Singh remained in per- 
son at his capital, directing the whole, and this period of 
bis life is marked by the sudden rise to favor of a young 
Gour Brahmin, named Khooshhal Singh, upon whom 
the most extravagant gifts were daily lavished, and who 
was raised to the important and lucrative ofiice of Deohree 
Wala, or Lord Chamberlain, with the rank of Raja, 
and vested besides with extensive Jageers. Runjbei! 
Singh had ever led a most dissolute life; his debauch- 
eries, particularly during the Hoolee and Dussera, were 
shameless, and the scenes exhibited on such occasions 
openly before the Court, and even in the streets of Lah6r, 
were the conversation of Hindoostan, and rival the 
irorst that is reported in history of the profligacies of 



A. D. 1811. IMPUTATIONS TO WHICH IT GAVE RISE. 85 

ancient Rome. The Chief himself would parade tho 
streets in a state of inebriety, on the same elephant with 
his coartezans, amongst whom one named Mora acquire 
ed most celebrity by her shamelessness, and by the favor 
with which she was treated. Coin was at one time struck 
in her name, and her influence seemed without bounds. 
In August of this year, however, she was discarded, and 
sent to be incarcerated in Puthan-Kot, and the favor she 
enjoyed seemed to be transferred to the Brahmin youth 
and his brothers. If this conduct in the ruler of Lahdr 
should excite surmises, as to the motives of the ex- 
traordinary attachment shown to a graceful youth of 
the appearance of Khooshhal Singh, the reader 
must yet make allowances for the habits in which the 
Chief was brought up, and the examples by which he 
was surrounded. The Sikhs are notoriously addicted to 
paederasty, and other unnatural lusts, and the worst that 
is said of Roman and Grecian indulgence in such propensi* 
ties, would find a parallel at the Durbars of the Chiefs 
of this nation on either side of the Sutlej. The truth of 
history forbids the veil being thrown altogether over such 
facts and traits of character, howsoever revolting it may 
be to allude to them. But the reputation of Run J bet 
Singh, though justly, it is feared, tainted with the foul 
blemish, does not sufier in the eyes of his nation from 
this cause, howsoever the circumstance may be regarded 
by strangers. 

Of the twelve original Misuls, or confederacies of 
the Sikhs, there were now remaining in the Punjab, 
only that of Run J set Singh himself, the Sookur- 
chukea, with the Ghuneea, Ramgurhea, and Aloowali^ 
all closely associated with him, and ranged it may be 



86 BHOODH SINGH EXPELLED. A. D. 1811. 

«aid under his standard. The Phoolkea and Nihung 
Misuls, which being settled east of the Sutlej, enjoyed 
the advantage of British protection, and the Fyzoolla- 
poorea, which had possessions on both sides that river, 
and the head of which Boodh Singh Sirdar had 
uniformly declined to give his personal attendance on 
RuNJEET, complete the list which Runjeet Singh 
was aiming further to reduce. The conduct of Boodh 
Singh at last brought down upon him the vengeance of 
the Lah6r ruler. On the 19th September 1811, Dew an 
MoHKUM Chund, attended by Jodh Singh Ram- 
GURHEEA, and other Sirdars, entered the Jalnndhur 
Dooab, with the declared design of seizing the FyzooUa- 
poorea possessions in the Punjab. Boodh Singh 
waited not for the attack, but fled immediately to 
Loodeeana for personal security. His troops, influenced 
by the point of honor, made a resistance of some days, 
1)efore surrendering the principal forts of Jalundhur and 
Puttee, but gave both up on the 6th and 7th of October, 
before any impression had been made on the walls, or 
defences, and after a needless sacrifice of lives, Boodh 
Singh has since been content with the lot of a protected 
Sikh chief, living on the means aflbrded by his posses- 
sions East and South of the Sutlej. In December .of 
the same year, Nidhan Singh, son of the old 
Ghuneea Chief Jy Singh, was deprived of the sepa- 
rate Jageer assigned to him, in order to secure the 
Sirdaree to his elder brother's widow, SuDA KooNWUR. 
His person was seized and placed under restraint at 
Labor, while a detachment marched to capture his two 
forts of Hajeepoor and Phoolwara, no tie of affinity being 
recognized as a motive for deviating from the systematic 
prosecution of the course of policy, by which it appears 



A. D. 1811. SHAH ZUMAN COMES TO LAHOR. 87 

RuNJBET Singh regulated his conduct, \iz. the deter- 
mination to level into subjects and dependents, owing all 
to himself, every one who was in a position to assert 
independence, or who prided himself on a separate 
origin, and enjoyed patrimonies, won by his own or his 
ancestor's swords. Runjeet Singh, who was himself 
free spoken, and allowed great latitude in conversation to 
his courtiers, received at this period a rebuke for the grasp^ 
ing disposition he displayed in his treatment of the old 
Sikh, Sirdars from JoDH Singh Ramghureea, himself a 
reduced chief of the class. When taking his leave to 
join MoHKUM Chund in the operations against the 
Fyzoollapooreea Sirdar, Runjeet Singh ordered him 
presents as a mark of favor. He begged, however, with 
characteristic frankness, that such honors might be dis- 
pensed with in his case, for he should deem himself for- 
tunate in these times, if allowed to keep his own turband 
on his head. Runjeet Singh took no offence at this 
freedom, but smiled and told him to be faithful and of 
good cheer. 

The year 1811 closed with a visit to Lah6r by Shah 
ZuMAN, the brother in exile and misfortune of Shah 
Shooja, with the addition of deprivation of sight. He 
tame with his family and dependents in the course of 
M ovember, but experiencing only neglect from the Sikh 
chief, returned soon after to Rawul-Pindee, where he 
bad been residing for some months. Shah Shooja, 
since his failure in September to obtain entrance or recep- 
tion at Mooltan, embarked in a desperate attempt to push 
his fortune again beyond the Indus. He was, however, 
defeated with the loss of his principal officer, Ukrum 
Khan, and was compelled to seek personal safety in 



€8 THE EX-PRINCES APPLY TO BRITISH GOVT. A.D. 181 !• 

secret flight. The brothers had, in the early part of the 
year, deputed a son of Zuman Shah to Loodeeana, to 
learn if there was any hope of assistance in men or money 
from the British Government. The Prince, however, 
though received with much attention and civility, was 
distinctly informed, that no such expectations mast be 
entertained by either member of the royal family of 
Kabool. 



CHAPTER SIXTH. 



A. D. 1812—1813. 



Marriage of Kliuruk Singh, the heir-apparent of Runjeet 
Singh, attended by Colonel Ochterlony, Acquisition 
of the Kohi-noor Diamond from Shah Shooja. Severe 
treatment and flight of that Prince to Loodeeana. 
Conquest of Kashmeer, by Futeh Khan Vuzeer, and 
acquisition of Attuk, by Runjeet Singh. 

In the beginning of the year 1812, the Court of Labor 
was occupied in preparations, for celebrating with due 
magnificence the marriage of the heir-apparent KooN- 
WUR Khuruk Singh, with the daughter of Jymul 
Ghuneea, the same chief from whom Runjeet Singh 
had taken Puthan-Kot, in the Jalundhur Turaee. An 
invitation was sent to Colonel Ochterlony at Loo- 
deeana to honor the ceremonies with his presence, and 
an envoy being despatched to conduct him to Lah6r, 
the Colonel crossed the Sutlej on the 23d of January, 
with a small escort, to which, by particular desire of 
Runjeet, a galloper gun was attached, the Sikh Chief 
haviug intense curiosity to see how this branch of artillery 

M 



90 MARRIAGE OF KHURUK SINGH, A. D. 1812. 

was equipped in the British service. Colonel Ochter- 
LONY was accompanied by the Rajas of Naba, Jheend, 
and Kythul, and on arriving near Umritsur on the 28th> 
received the Istuqhal, or meeting of honor, from the 
Chief of the Sikhs, who had gathered to his court, on 
this occasion, all his Sirdars, and indeed the whole nation 
of Sikhs appeared to be assembled to do honor to the 
nuptials. 

The ceremony was performed at the residence of 
Sirdar Jymul Singh in Futehgnrb, and, after its 
conclusion on the 6th of February, the whole party return- 
ed to Umritsur. SuDA Koonwur alone was not 
present; indisposition was assigned as the reason of her 
non-attendance on the occasion, but her dissatisfaction at 
the failure of an attempt to procure from Runjeet 
Singh,. her son-in-law, the public acknowledgment dur- 
ing these ceremonies, of the two boys she had brought 
up as twins born to her daughter, was generally be- 
lieved to be the true cause of her absence. 

Runjeet Singh received Colonel Ochterlony 
with marked distinction, appointed his principal officers 
to show him every object worth seeing at Lah6r, and 
pressed upon him an invitation to stay and see the festivi- 
ties of the Hoolee, which would be celebrated in March. 
The Colonel declined this honor for himself, but th6 
Sikh Chiefs who had c6me with him gladly accepted i(^ 
and the Bbye of Kythul obtained by cunning and intrigue 
during the orgies, a grant from the Lah6r Ruler ^f 
Goojurawul, on the protected side of the Sutlej. The 
frank confidence displayed by Runjeet Singh in his 
present reception of Colonel Ochterlony was much 



^.D. 1812. ATTENDED BY COLONEL OCHTERLONY. 91 

in contrast with tfae suspicious mistrust with which Mr. 

Metcalfe had been treated. Runjeet showed the 

Colonel his troops, and particularly the new battalions he 

was raising, and further took him over the fortifications 

of Lahdr, and inspected with him some new works he 

was constructing for their improvement, and to connect 

the Juma Musjid with the palace. His prudent Dewan, 

MoHKUM Chund, and the Sirdar Gundha Singh, are 

reported to have remonstrated against the communication 

of such knowledge, to a professional person of a nation, 

that might have designs which would enable him to turn 

it to account adversely. Runjeet, however, observed 

with shrewdness, that if such were their sentiments, 

they should have advised his withholding the invitation 

altogether from the Colonel, for it was too late to begin 

now to show distrust. 

After the conclusion of these ceremonies and festivi- 
ties, the armies of Lah6r resumed active operations. 
KooNWUR Khuruk Singh was sent with a strong 
force against Bhimbur and Rajaoree, where Sooltan 
Khan, the Moosulman holder of the former territory, 
proved a formidable enemy, having recently over- 
powered and slain his relation Ismaeel Khan, who had 
been left, as the result of previous operations, in the 
possession and management of a large portion of the 
territory, DuL Singh was at the same time sent with 
another force to plunder and levy tribute from MuzUF- 
FUR Khan at Mooltan; and a third under Desa Singh 
was again detached to Kangra. Runjeet Singh in 
person made a tour into the Jalundhur Dooab towards 
the Turaee, whither he summoned various hill chiefs, 
and made with th*em fresh arrangements attended with 

M 2 



92 SHAH ZUMAN AGAIN SEEKS LAHOR. A. D. 1812. 

increase of tribute. The resumption of Shoojanpoor 
from BooDH Singh Biiugut was the only operation of 
that kind effected on this occasion. Returning to Lah&r 
on the 23d of May, Runjeet Singh received intelli- 
gence there of the success of Khuruk Singh against 
Bhimbur, Jummoo and Ukhnoor. The Koonwur was 
honored with a grant of these places in Jageer, and he 
placed them in the management of Bh ye Ram Singh. 
DuL Singh had also succeeded in extorting a consider- 
able sum from Mozuffur Khan of Mooltan, 

In August of the same year, Jymul Singh, the 
father-in-law of Khuruk Singh, died suddenly, and it 
was generally believed, that his death was occasioned by 
poison administered by his wife. Runjeet Singh 
constituted himself the heir to all the treasure, accumu- 
lated by this chief during a long life of parsimony and 
usurious dealing. Much of his wealth was, at the time of 
his decease, out at interest with Muhajuns of Umritsur, 
all of whom were called upon to account with the Labor 
treasury. In the following month the families of the two 
ex-Shahs of Kabool, i. e. of Shah Zuman and of Shah 
Shoo J A sought an asylum at Labor. The latter chief 
had added largely to his experience of adversity. After 
escaping from the unfortunate enterprize, he had under- 
taken in September preceding, his person was seized by 
JuHAN Dad Khan, the Governor of Attuk, by whom 
lie was sent to his brother Ata Mohummud of Kash- 
meer, who held him a close prisoner. The helpless 
Shah Zuman brought both families to the Sikh capital, 
where RuNJEET Singh professed much interest in 
the misfortunes and fate of Shah Shooja, and ^seemed 
as if disposed to make an effort against Kashmeer to 



A.D. 1812. BHIMBUR AND RAJAOREE REDUCED. 93 

procure his liberation, and to obtain that province for 
Lim. He was then preparing an expedition against 
Shimbur, in the Peer-Punjal range of mountains, and 
the wife of Sfiah Shooja was led by these profes- 
sions to believe, and to represent to her husband, that 
he would find a friend in the ruler of Labor. The 
Shah made his escape from confinement during the 
operations subsequently undertaken against the valley by 
FuTEH Khan Vuzeer, and was led by these hopes to 
direct his flight towards Labor. He made good his way 
out of Kashmeer, by seeking the Peer-Punjal mountains ; 
where, finding an opportunity to join the force under 
MoHKUM Chund, he came down with him to Lah6r, 
there to experience only new persecutions, excited by the 
desire kindled in the breast of RuNJEET, to obtain 
possession of the famous diamond the Koh-i-Noor, and 
other rich jewels ascertained to be still in this Prince's 
possession. The relation, however, of the means by which 
these were extorted, belongs to a later period. 

After the Dussera, at the close of the rains, the Sikh 
army was assembled, and led entire by RUNJEET Singh 
in person, against the Moosulman Chiefs of Bhimbur 
and Rajaoree, who, though pressed by the expeditions 
before directed against them, made head again, imme- 
diately the force was withdrawn, and were now assisted 
by a confederacy of Chiefs and Jageerdars of their faith, 
and by succour from the Governor of Kashmeer. The 
possessions of these Chiefs commanded the approaches 
to the Peer-Punjal mountains, and there is reason to 
believe that Runjeet Singh had even at this time, an 
eye to the conquest eventually of the valley of Kashnmer, 
to which the occupation of both Bhimbur and Rajaoree 



94 MEETING OF RUNJEET AND FUTEH KHAN VUZEER A. D. 1812. 

was a necessary preliminary. The Sikh army defeated 
the confederated Chiefs with great loss, and Run J bet 
Singh pushing his success, occupied both Bhimbur and 
Rajaoree, in the early part of November, and received 
the submission of the discomfited Mohummedan Chiefs 
of both places on the 13th of the month. The rest of 
the confederates were compelled to fly into Kashmeer, 
where they were received by the Governor, Ata 
MonuMMUD. 

FuTEH Khan, the Vuzeer of Shah Muhmood, was 
at this time upon the Indus, whither he had come to 
punish the two brothers, who held Attuk and Kashmeer, 
for the assistance they had rendered to Shah Shooja, 
and to recover the two provinces for KabooL He had 
sent forward a detachment of 8000 Afghans to Rohtas, 
and was already planning operations against Ata Mo- 
HtJMMUD of Kashmeer, when RuNJEBT obtained his 
successes against the Bhimbur and Rajaoree chiefs. It 
became essential, that engaged as the Lah6r and Kabool 
forces were So closely upon the same field, the two leaders 
should come to a mutual explanation of their views and 
intentions ; accordingly Runjeet Singh sent agents 
with an overture for this purpose, and invited the Vuzeer 
to an interview upon the Jihlum, in order that they might 
concert a joint expedition against Kashmeer. Futeh 
Khan being no less desirous to come to an understand* 
ing with the Sikh, the meeting was agreed upon, and 
took place on the 1st December, when it was settled that 
Runjeet Singh should place a force, under his Dewan 
MoHKUM Chund, at the Vuzeer's disposal in the expe- 
dition he meditated, and should give every facility for the 
passage into Kashmeer, by the passes of Rajaoree, which 



A.D. 1^13. KASHMEER REDUCED BY THE VUZEER. 95 

he had recently subdued. The aid of a detachment of 
Afghans to be employed afterwards against Mooltan, 
and a share of the plunder of Kashmeer, were the returns 
stipulated for this succour. Runjeet Singh desired 
a portion of the revenues of the valley, but the politic 
Vuzeer objected to any participation in the permanent 
resources of the province, and preferred agreeing to a 
Nuzurana of nine lakhs from the spoil expected. Having 
on these terms secured the assistance of 12,000 Sikhs, 
under the Dewan Mohkum Chund, the Vuzeer pro- 
ceeded on his expedition, and the joint armies commenced 
their march, while Runjeet returned to Lah6r. A 
heavy fall of snow impeded their progress, and the Sikhs 
being less inured to the severities of a mountain winter 
than the northern troops, were outstripped by the Vuzeer ; 
who, penetrating into the valley in February, drove Ata 
MoHUMMUD from his stockades, and in a short time 
reduced him to submission, and obtained all the strong- 
holds in the province, without receiving much assistance 
from Mohkum Chund and the Sikhs. Runjeet 
Singh made great rejoicings at Labor on receiving 
news of this success, treating the operation as a 
joint one, tending equally to his own as to the Vuzeer's 
glory. A deep intrigue was, however, in progress, 
which the issue of the Kashmeer expedition brought 
immediately to light. JuHAN Dad ^H AN, the gover- 
nor of Attuk, despairing after his brother's defeat in 
Kashmeer, of bis own ability to resist the Vuzeer sin- 
gle handed, and knowing he had little favor to expect from 
him, had previously placed himself in correspondence 
with Runjeet Singh, to whom he promised the fort of 
Attuk for a Jageer, in case he should be reduced to ex- 
tremity, Runjeet, accordingly^ when he returned him- 



96 RUNJEET SINGH ACQUIRES ATTUK. A. D. 1813. 

self to Labor, left a detachment under Dya Singh» in 
.the vicinity of the Indus, to be ready to occupy that 
important fortress, whenever it should be given up. . In 
March, 1813, Runjeet Singh heard that his oflScer had 
been admitted, and that the place was held and adminis- 
tered in his name. He accordingly lost no time in re- 
inforcing the detachment, with a strong convoy, containing 
every thing necessary to place the fort in a complete state 
of defence, and DeveeDas andHuKEEM UzEEZrOOD- 
Deen were sent as commissioners to settle the country 
surrounding, which formed the dependency of Attuk. 
FuTEH Khan Vuzeer cried out against this usurpation, 
and deeming himself absolved by it, from the conditions 
upon which he had obtained the co-operatiou of the Sikhs 
under the Dewan, he dismissed them without any share 
of the booty obtained; and then nominating his brother, 
UzEEM Khan, governor in Kashmeer, he marched to 
Attuk, and made upon Run jeet a demand for its surren- 
der. This was spun out into a negociation^ — and, of course, 
evaded by the Sikh. With the Dewan MoHKUM Chund, 
Shah Shooja came to Labor, where a demand was 
immediately made upon him, and upon his principal wife^ to 
surrender the Koh-i-noor diamond, a JTageer being pro- 
mised with a fort as the condition of compliance. The 
Shah denied that he had it, and the VuFA Begum 
declared, it had been placed in pawn with a Muhajun to 
obtain supplies for the Shah in his distresses. Runjeet 
Singh disbelieving these assertions, placed guards round 
the Shah's residence, and allowed no access or egress 
without strict search. The exiled family, however, being 
proof against the severity of mere restraint, the prohibi- 
tion of food was added, and for two days the Shab, 
with his wives^ family, and servants, suffered absolute 



A. D, 1613. SBVERITIES PRACTISED ON SHAH SHOOJA. 97 

deprivation ; but their firmness was even proof against this 
trial, and Runjeet Singh, from a regard to his own 
reputation determined to proceed with more art, and 
ordered food to be supplied. On the first of April, there 
were produced in his durbar two notes, purporting to be 
from the Shah to Futeh Khan Vuzeer, and to other 
Afghan chiefs, descriptive of his sufierings, and prating 
for their efibrts for his deliverance. These were stated 
to have been intercepted, but were generally believed to 
have been fabricated. It was now assumed to be indis- 
pensable to take precautions against the intrigues and 
machinations of the Shah, and a guard of two compaiiies 
of Sikhs, from the newly raised corps, being added to that 
previously set over the premises where he resided, threats 
of a transfer of the Shah's person to Govind-gurh, with 
treatment of the most galling and injurious kind were 
resorted to, in order to enforce compliance with .the 
demand for the jewel. Having tried remonstrance in 
vain, the Shah next resorted to artifice, and solicited two 
months' delay, to enable him to procure the diamond from 
certain Muhajuns with whom it was asserted to be pledg- 
ed, and he said that some lakhs of rupees must be expend- 
ed to efiect this. Runjeet Singh reluctantly consent- 
ed to allow the time solicited, and severities were 
accordingly suspended for a season. They were renewed, 
however, before the period expired, and Shah Shooja, 
wearied out by them, and seeing that the rapacity of the 
Sikh would not hesitate even at the sacrifice of his life 
for its gratification, agreed at last to give up the precious 
jewel.* Accordingly, on the 1st of June, Runjeet 

* This diamond was one of those described by Tavernier, as adornin|f 
the Peacock throne at Dehlee. It is the largest known to exist, and is 
by Hindoos supposed to have belonged to the Pandoos of Mythological 
celebrity, before it fell into the hands of the Moghul Sovereigns, it is 



98 THE KOH-I-NOOR IHAMOND EXTORTED. A.D. 1813* 

waited on the Shah, with a few attendants to receive it# 
He was received by the exiled Prince with much digni* 
iy, and both being seated, a pause and solemn silence 
ensued, which continued for nearly an hour. Run;ieet 
then getting impatient, whispered to one of his atten- 
dants to remind the Shah of the object of his coming. 
No answer was returned, but the Sbah with his eyes 
made the signal to an Eunuch, who retired, and brought 
in a small roll, which he set down on the carpet at equal 
ilistance between the Chiefs. Runjeet desired Bhoo- 
ANEE Das to unfold the roll, when the diamond was 
exhibited, and recognized, and the Sikh immediately 
retired with his prize in hand. The Shah was now left 
more at liberty, his guard being withdrawn : a letter was, 
however, intercepted a few days after from Kazee Sheer 
MoHUMMUD, one of his followers, toMoHUMMUDUzEEM 
Khan, the new governor of Kashmeer, containing a pro- 
position to assassinate Runjeet Singh, and advising the 
Vuzeer Futeh Khan to make a simultaneous attack on 
Lah6r. The Sikh sent for one of the Princes of the exiled 
family, and through him transmitted the letter, with its 
writer, who had been seized, to the Shah. The Ex-king 
sent both back, begging of Runjeet Singh to punish 
the Kazee as he might deem fitting. In the idea, that 
a confession of the Shah's privity would be extorted, the 
guard on duty were desired to lay on with their shoes^ 
and with sticks. The Kazee fainted under the blows he 
received, declaring, however, to the last, his master's 
entire innocence, he was then committed to prison, whence 

■* 

nearly an inch and a half in length, and an inch wide, and rises half an 
inch from its gold setting. Nadir Shah robbed the Dehlee family of it, 
and Ahmed Shah Abdalee got possession of it in the pillage of Nadu 
Shah's tents after his assassination. 



X. D. 1813. MARCH FOR THE RELIEF OF ATTUK. 99 

Shah Shooja after a time purchased his release by a 
payment of 20,000 rupees. 

FuTEH Khan Vazeer after his return from Kashmeer, 
had sat down before Attuk, and pending the negociation 
at Labor, upon his demand for its surrender, closely 
blockaded the fort Dewan Mohkum Chund had been 
sent to the vicinity, to act as occasion might require, and 
in the beginning of July, intelligence was received from 
him, that the garrison was reduced to such straight for 
supplies, that, unless very shortly relieved, they must 
surrender. Runjeet Singh held a council upon this, 
and it was determined to relieve the fort, even at the 
risk of the attempt producing hostilities with the Vuzeer. 
Orders to this effect were accordingly sent immediately 
to the Dewan, who being encamped at Boorhan, march- 
ed at break of day on the 12th July 1813, to execute 
them. On that day he made a short march to an outpost 
on a rivulet, held by a piquet of the Vuzeer's army, which 
retired in the night. The Dewan marched again next 
morning leisurely along the rivulet, that his men might 
drink, and be always fresh for action, the weather being 
extremely hot. At ten in the morning, he came to the 
Indus, at about five miles from the fort. The Kabool 
army was here drawn up to oppose his further advance; 
its vau being composed of a body of Moolkea Moosul- 
mans, supported by a body of cavalry under Dost 
MoHUMMBD Khan. The Dewan took up his ground, 
forming his cavalry in four divisions, and the only battalioa 
of infantry that had yet come up, in square. The Mool- 
keas immediately made a resolute charge on the batta- 
lion; but were received with so heavy a rolling fire as to be 
driveaback with severe loss. The Dewan ordered up for 

N 2 



100 rUTEH KHAN VTJZEEB I>EFEATED. A.D.1B13. 

the support of his battalion, some fresh troops, and artillery^ 
nnder Ghouseb Khan, \7hich bad come in sight, bat 
his order was not obeyed. Dost Mohummud now 
attacked with his horse, and the Sikhs were sinking 
before him, when the Dewan in person on his elephant, 
carried np two gans, which discharging grape checked 
the Afghans. By this time it was noon, the heat of the 
san had become intense, and a strong hot wind blew the 
dust into the faces of the Afghans. Under! these disad- 
vantages, the Vuzeer did not think proper to ctarry the 
troops he had in reserve into action, and those who had 
beeh engaged being exhausted, the battle ceased. The 
Vuzeer retired across the Indus to Peshawar, leaving the 
Dewan free to relieve the fort, which having eflFected, 
MoHKUM Chund returned to Lah6r in August, to 
receive the reward of his service; aiid to prefer his com- 
plaint against the officers, whose disobedience had so 
nearly proved' fatal. They received the punishment, 
attaching to correspondence with the enemy, which was 
detected as the motive of their so critically holding back 
from the action. 

In the rains of 1813 nothing particular occurred, but 
toward the close of that season Runjeet Singh com- 
menced preparation for an expedition into Kashmeer; 
In October he visited Jawala-Mookhee» and Kangra, and 
thence marched, vi& Seeal-Kot and Ynzeerabad to the 
Jyhlum, where he summoned all his Jageerdars, andnU 
th6 tributary bill chiefs, to be in attendance with theit 
respective quotas. Strict musteir was taken of each 
party as it arrived, and fines were imposed if the number 
was short, or the equipment in any respect deficient; 
Great preparation had also been made to bring an effed* 



A. p. 1813^14. . FURTHER EXTORTIONS. 101 

tive artillery into the fields and to improve that mounted oa 
camels^ and the whole having been reviewed, RuNJEET 
Singh, on the 11th November, crossed the Jyhlum, 
and entered the town of Rohtas. The Vuzeer Futeh 
Khan was brought from Peshawur by these preparations 
to the Derajat, on the west bank of the Indus, which cir- 
cumstance, added to intelligence, that the snow lay still 
deep op the Peer-Punjal mountains, induced Runjee'^ 
Singh to suspend his proposed expedition until the fol- 
lowing spring., .He accordingly sent a detachment to 
occupy and s^ize the passes in the hills beyond Rajaoree, 
and to select places for grain and store-depdts, and then 
returned, vi4 Robtas, to Lah6r, where he arrived on the 
26th of December. 

' • * - ■ . » 

The confiscation of the hill territory of Hureepoor, 
and its annexation to the Lahdr Khalsa, (fisc), was th^ 
first act which marked the return of the Sikh ruler to his 
capital. Bhoop Singh, the Raja, whose treacherous 
seizure and confinement preceded the confiscation, receiv- 
ed on its completion a small Jageer for subsistence. Th^ 
next act of Runjeet Singh was more shamelessly 
extortionate. Hearing that Shah Shoqja had still 
some jewels of rare value, a demand was made for them; 
and, on the Shah's declaring that he had none left, the Sikli 
determined to judge for himself, and sending Bhy A Ram 
Singh with a party of females to search the interior 
apartments, caused to be brought into his presence, every 
box or packet the Shah possessed. The Shah's head 
Eunuch was then made to open them, and Runjeet 
seized, and retained for himself, all the most precious 
articles, with the swords, pistols, and two cart loads of 
carpets, and women's dresses. The Shah was then 
ordered to remove from the Shahlemar garden and palace 



102 ESCAPE OF SHAH SHOOJA'S BEGUMS, A.l>. lB14<'ld« 

to a common house in the city, and was subjected there 
to strict surveillance. After experiencing *every kind of 
indignity and discomfort, he determined to attempt an 
escape with his family. Towards the end of November, 
it was reported to Runjbet Singh, that the Begums of 
Shah Shoo j a were missing, whereupon the Shah's per- 
son was placed under a guard, and alternate threats and 
promises were employed to induce him to declare where 
they were gone. He denied all knowledge of their mo- 
tions or intentions. The city was searched, and egress 
forbidden to all veiled women, and all merchants having 
property of the Shah's, or of any members of his family, 
in deposit, were ordered to surrender it into the Sikh 
treasury. These precautions were, however, taken too 
late. It was ascertained that the Begums had left the 
bouse of Sfiah Shooja in the dress of Hindoo females, 
and thence had been conveyed to the banking house of 
Baluk Bam, the agent or correspondent of Soogun 
Chund, a great banker at Debtee, and treasurer of the 
British Residency there ; that by him they had been assist- 
ed in passing out of the city, and provided with the means 
of making their way to Loodeeana, where they had arrived 
safely, and making themselves known to Captain Birch, 
the Assistant, in temporary charge of the station, wer6 
received with hospitality and attention. Baluk Ram 
was seized by Runjbet Singh for the part he had taken 
in this evasion, and was compelled to show his books, and 
render up all property in, his possession belonging to the 
Shah or his family. He received, however, no further 
punishment. 

In April 1815, Shah Shooja himself made his escape 
in disguise from the close confinement in which he was 
held. His guard was disgraced, and a reward offered 



A. D. 1815. AND SHAH SHOOJA.— HIS ADVENTURES. 103 

for recovery of the prisoner, but the Shah succeeded in 
reaching the hills, where he was hospitably received by 
the petty Raja of Kishteewar. Here he collected a body 
of 3000 men, and in the winter season made an attempt on 
Kashmeer : but the cold prevented his passing the Peer- 
Punjal range, and his troops dispersed. His condition 
was now desperate, but after a long and circuitous jour- 
ney over the Kooloo mountains with few attendants, and 
fewer comforts, he at last, in September 1816, joined his 
family at Loodeeana, and placed himself under the pro- 
tection of the British Government. A provision of 
50,000 Rs. per annum was assigned for the maintenance 
of the Shah ia his exile, while he might, remain in the 
British territory. With the intermission of one unfortu- 
nate enterprize, he was led to engage in for the recovery 
of his lost power, after the murder of Futeh Khan in 
1818, he has since continued to avail himself of this 
asylum, and he has been joined at Loodeeana by his 
sightless brother Shah Zuman, whom, with his family 
already in abject poverty, Runjeet Singh took no 
trouble to detain. To this prince a separate allowance 
of 24,000 Rupees per annum has been assigned. The 
chronological order of events has been somewhat antici- 
pated, in order to bring the misfortunes of these princes 
into one connected relation,^ The first expedition of 
Runjeet Singh against Kashmeer will take us back 
into the year 1814. The events, however, which pre- 
ceded or attended it, will more fitly form the subject of 
another chapter. 



CHAPTER SEVENTH. 



A. D. 1814 to 1818. 



First expedition of Runjeet Singh offainst Kashmeer. 
Fails. Failure of Runjeet Singh's health. Expedi- 
tion against, and capture of Mooltan. The army 
deprived of its plunder^ Death of Futeh Khan, 
Vuzeer of KabooL Runjeet Singh's advance to 
Peshawur. 

XvUNJEBT Singh having celebrated the Hoolee and 
bathed at Umritsar, moved his army in April 1814, iato 
the Hill country about Kangra, to enforce the collection 
of his tributes, and the personal attendance of the Rajas 
Yiiik their contingents. Having thus strengthened him- 
self with a large body of hill-men, he moved to Bhimbur 
on the 4th June; and, advancing slowly from thence, was 
metby AgurKhan, the chief of Rajaoree, through whose 
territory lay the route to Kashmeer. On the 11th June, 
the army arrived at Rajaoree, and disencumbering itself of 
heavy baggage, equipped itself for mountain movement, 



A. D. 1814. EXPEDITION AGAINST KASHMEER , 105 

preparatory to the passage of the famous Peer-Punjal 
range. An attempt had been made to gain the Poonch 
Raja, RooH-ooLLAH Khan, to the Sikh cause, but he 
pleaded engagements with Kashmeer, and the presence 
of his son as a hostage with Uzeem Khan, the governor. 
After a consultation of the principal officers however, it 
was determined, nevertheless, ths^t the main army, com- 
manded by RuNJEET Singh in person, should pursue the 
Poonch route, £md endeavour to penetrate by the Toshu 
Mydan pass, \yhile a strong diversion should be made by 
BnluramguUa towards Soopyn in the valley. 

The cavalry being dismounted, and every man furnish- 
ed with provisions for three days, a detachment was 
formed, and sent forward on the 15th June, under 
Ram Dyal, a grandson of Mohkum Chund Dewan, 
with whom were DuL Singh and o&er Jageerdars. 
They appeared before the post at Buhramgulla on the 
JLStfa, and after.a little negociation, obtained possession 
of the pass, on payment to the defenders of the arrears 
due to them by the Poonch Raja. Heavy rain set 
in on the 20tb June, and the Sikh army beginning to 
suffer from the wet and cold, and the supplies already 
running short, the march of the main body was delay- 
ed until the 26(h. On thQ 28th, however. Run J eet 
Singh reached Poonch, aud found it evacuated ; the 
Raja having given orders to his people to attempt no 
resistance in arms, but to desert their towns and vil- 
lages, to bury or remove the grain, and to hover in 
sipall parties on the flanks of the invaders. The 
coQseqaences of this system had already begun to be felt, 
and compelled a halt at Pooocb for further supplies, 
until the 13th July. Thence advfuicing by Mmndee, 



106 A DETACHMENT REACHES THE VALLEY. A. D. 1814. 

RuNJEET Singh reached Tosha Mydan on the 18lb, 
where he found Mohummud Uzeem Khan with the 
forces of Kashmeer, drawn up to oppose his progress. 
The Sikh army took up its position in face of the 
enemy, and remained for some days inactive. Here 
Runjeet Singh received intelligence from the detach* 
ment at Buhramgulla. On the 19th July, Ram Dyal 
and the Jageerdars ascended the Peer-Punjal moun- 
tains^ by the Suraee and Mudpoor pass, driving before 
them the Kashmeer troops left to defend it. Runjeet 
Singh was uneasy at this precipitancy, thinking his 
detachment out of reach of support, and liable to be 
overpowered ; he sent off immediately therefore a rein- 
forcement under Bhya Ram Singh. The Rajaoree 
chief recommended an attack of Uzeem Khan, as the 
best means of preventing his undertaking any thing 
against the detachment, but Runjeet Singh having 
reconnoitered the position, deemed the attack too hazard- 
ous. It is probably the only thing that would have 
prevented the disasters which followed. 

In the mean time Ram Dyal having passed the 
mountain barrier, and debouched upon the valley at 
Heerapoor, was attacked on the 22d July, by a party sent 
against him by Uzeem Khan, The Kashmeerian, 
were defeated, and followed to Soopyn. On the 24ths 
Ram Dyal assaulted the town : but it was well defended 
by Shookoor Khan, and the assailants were repulsed, 
whereupon the Sikhs retired again to the Peer-Pnnjal 
mountains to wait reinforcements. Bhya Ram Singh, 
hearing of this discomfiture, deemed it necessary to halt 
at BuhramguUee, with the support he was bringing up, 
in order to secure the pass. 



A. D. 1814. runjeet's defeat and retreat 107 

MoHUMMUD UzEEM Khan seeing matters in this 
critical position, thought the time favorable for offensive 
operations against the main army, which had already 
suffered much from sickness, and more from desertion. 
On the 29th July, Roohoollah Khan, the Poonch 
chief, approached, and commenced a desultory fire on 
the Sikh position. On the following morning he renewed 
Lis attack with more vigour, and Runjeet Singh was 
compelled to fall back on Mundee. Being pursued thither, 
he tired the town, and directing his disciplined batta- 
lions to cover the retreat, continued his retrograde 
march to Poonch, which he reached on the 31st July, 
with the loss of many men, and his principal officer 
MiT-SlNGH Buhraneea, and stripped of nearly all his 
baggage. The army was now no longer in a state of 
organization or discipline, and setting fire to Poonch, 
Kunjeet Singh quitted the camp and continued his 
flight to Bhoohee, whence he with a few attendants took 
the nearest route to Labor, which he reached on the 12th 
August. 

Ram Dyal and the Jageerdars serving with him in 
the detachment which had penetrated into the valley, 
were surrounded, and their supplies were cut off, but 
the detachment was allowed by ITzeem Khan to re- 
tire, and was furnished with a safe conduct to the Sikh 
frontier, in consideration of the friendship professed 
by this Governor for Dewan Mohkum Chund, its 
commandant's grandfather. That distinguished officer 
of Runjeet Singh had himself been prevented by 
indisposition from taking part in the expedition. He 
warned his master however of the difficulties he must 
expect if he allowed himself to be overtaken in the 

o 2 



lOff DEATH OF MOHKUM CHUN D DEW AN. A. D. iai4^15« 

hilh by the rainy season, and patticalarly pointed out 
the necessity of providing large depdts in Bhimbur and 
Bbjaoree, in anticipation of a determined opposition 
from the Moosulman chief, and the whole popalation of 
Poonch. All had happened exactly as he predieted^ 
and the ruler of Lah6r returned to lament the deprivation 
of his Dewan's experience and judgment, no less than 
his tried skill and valour, in this important expedition. 
The illness however which prevented him from accom- 
panying the Sikh army increased, and in the course 
of October, soon after the return of Runjebt Singh 
to Lahdr, he died amidst the regrets and lamentations 
of all well-wishers to the power of the Sikhs, and to the 
dominion of Run jbet Singh. In his private character 
the Dewan was liberal, upright, and high-minded : hef 
enjoyed the confidence of the troops placed under his 
cominand, and was popular and much respected amongst 
the entire Sikh community. 

The losses sustained by RuNJEET in this expedition 
required some time to repair. The Sikh army was not 
therefore in a coiidition to take the field at the close of 
the Dussera of 1814 as usual : but in April 1815, a; 
fbr6e was employed^ under Ram DyAl and DuL 
SiNGfi, ravaging the Mooltan and Buhawnlpoor ter- 
ritories, and exacting tHbntes and contributions in that 
neighbourhood. RuNJEEt SiNGH himself passed thd 
hot weather at Adeena-nugur, raising and dincipliniiig 
new battalions ; and especially recruiting mei^ of tiie 
Goorka nation, of whose valour he began to enter^ 
tain a very high opinion, from' having watched tbd 
operatiot^s, which during the season had passed in tbe 
hill colintry east of the Sutlej. The British Govemmeai 



A. D. 1815^ RUNJEET REPAIRS HIS LOSSES. 109 

had engaged in iiostilities with the Goorkhas, and Colonel, 
afterwards General Ochterlony, had taken the field 
there against Umur Singh> who for six months, 
maintained himself at Ramgurh and Maloun, and 
haffled the known skill and the superior forces of this 
experienced commander. His final discomfitare, and the 
dispossession of the Goorkhas from all the hill territory 
west of the Gogra or Kalee river, occasioned a break- 
ing up of their power, which was highly favourable to 
RtJNJEBT*s views, and procured him many men of this 
nation particularly well adapted for hill warfare. 

In the mean time, the defeat of the Sikh expedition 
against Kashmeer encouraged the Moosulman Chiefs 
of Bhimbur and Rajaoree to break out into rebellion, 
and towards the close of the year 1814, the son of the lat- 
ter who was detained as a hostage at Lahdr, effected his 
escape and joined his father. The Bhimbur insurgents 
were headed by the brother of Sooltan Khan, who 
since he made his submission in 1813, had been himself 
detained by RuNJEET SiNGH, and was now a close 
prisoner at Lahdr. 

Tn October, after the Dussera of 1815, the Sikh army 
was called out, and its rendezvous for muster appointed 
at Seealkot. A division was sent in advance under Ram 
Dyal and Dul Singh to punish the Bhimbur and 
Rajaoree Chiefs, and to ravage their territories with 
fire and sword. Poonch was saved from a similar 
visitation by its greater elevation, and by the setting in 
of winter with severity. Run J bet Singh was not yet 
prepared for an attempt to retrieve his fortune and lost 
reputation, by another expedition against Kashmeer.' 



110 CONFISCATIONS. A. D. 1816. 

He was content therefore to employ the season in con- 
firmiDg his authority in the hills before subdued, and in 
punishing the disobedient and refractory Rajas and Chiefs 
on this side the Peer-Punjal range. He returned to 
Lah6r on the 28th December, where he was waited upon 
by Beer Singh, the Rajahof Noorpoor, inthe hills, who 
had failed to attend the summons to rendezvous at Seeal- 
Kot. A heavy mulct was imposed, which being beyond 
the Chiefs means, he offered his Thakoors, or house- 
hold Gods, of silver and gold, in pawn, but these not 
sufficing, he was arrested at the door of the Durbar, or 
hall of audience, on the 20th January 1816, and next 
day was sent off in a Palkee to witness the seizure 
and confiscation of his all, and to render an account to 
the sequestrators. He declined the petty Jageer offered 
to him for subsistence, and after a fruitless attempt to 
recover his fortress and territory by force, took refuge 
within the British territory. A second example was made 
of the Raja of Juswoul Omed Singh, for a similar 
failure. Being stripped of his possessions, however, he 
accepted the Jageer tendered. 

After completing his arrangements in the hills, 
Runjeet Singh having bathed at Turun-Tarun, moved 
with his army into the territories of Mooltan and 
Buhawulpoor, where the still unripe crops and abundant 
herds presented the means of enforcing contributions or 
inflicting irredeemable injury. The Sikh detachments 
penetrated down the Indus, to the verge of the Sindh 
territory, and MoHUMMUD Khan, Chief of Bhukur 
and Leeah, of the family ejected by the present Meers of 
Sindh, having recently died, a demand of tribute was 
made on his successor Hafiz Ahmed Khan, On hm 



A. D. 1816. EXPEDITION DOWN THE INDUS. Ill 

refusal, his forts, Khangarh and Muhmoodkot, were occu- 
pied, and Phoola Singh Akalee was allowed to perpe- 
trate there atrocities and insults to the Mohummedan 
population of the most revolting description. Hafiz 
Ahmed soon after paid down a sum of money to procure 
the withdrawing of the Sikh garrisons, and thus recover- 
ed his forts with part also of the plunder extorted. 
Ahmed Khan of Jhung was now summoned to the 
presence, and called upon for a large contribution. On 
pleading inability, he was sent prisoner to Lah6r, while 
three battalions proceeded to occupy, and annex to the 
Khalsa, the whole of his possessions, reckoned to yield 
about four lakhs of yearly revenue. They were farmed 
to Lala Sookh-Dyal for 1,60,000 rupees. Futeh 
Singh Aloowala was at the same time employed in 
seizing Ooch and Kot-Muharaja, the first held by 
Seyuds, who had hitherto been respected, and were 
DOW provided with a Jageer ; and the second by a chief 
named Rujub Ulee Khan, who was sent prisoner to 
Lahdr. 

RuNJEET Singh returned from the south west, and 
re-entered his capital on the 20th May. Here he learned 
that the Vuzeer Futeh Khan had employed the season 
in a march across the Pukholee and Dumtour hills, into 
Kashmeer, where he aided his brother in enforcing the 
collections^ and establishing his authority in the valley, 
and then returned by the same route. The Sikh detach- 
ment under Ram Dyal and Dul Singh had remained 
upon the frontier to watch his motions. 

A domestic matter now occupied the attention of 
RuNJEET Singh. His second wife^ the mother of 



112 KHURUK SINGH'S MOTHER DISGRACED. A. D< 1816. 

KooDwur Khuruk Singh, was accused of scandal- 
ous improprieties^ and particularly of too notorious and 
close an intimacy with Bhya Ram Singh, the Koon- 
wur's Dewan. Runjeet Singh had lavished much 
territory in Jageer upon the heir-apparent, and the 
management was undertaken by his mother and the 
Dewan, upon the usual condition of maintaining an effici- 
ent contingent of horse, for service with the Sikh army. 
Complaint, however, was loud and frequent, that the 
Jageers were the scene of extortion and mismanagement, 
while the condition and equipment of the Koonwur's con- 
tingent was deemed by Runjeet highly discreditable. 
He first endeavoured to procure a reform by exciting the 
pride of bis son, who was of age to take an interest in 
such things, but the influence of the mother and Dewan 
preventing apy amendment, the Sikh ruler was at length 
compelled to interfere more authoritatively. The Dewan 
Ram Singh was thrown into confinement, and ordered 
to account for his stewardship of the Jageers, ai)d the 
Koonwur's mother was directed to fix her residence in 
the fort of Shekhoopoor. Khuruk Singh was repri- 
manded for allowing such proceedings ; and Bhooanee 
Das of Peshawur, was assigned to him as a new Dewan, 
Several lakhs of rupees and some. valuable jewels were 
extorted from Ram Singh, whose banker Ootum 
Chunp of Umritsur, was also called to account, and 
made to refund what he held for tjhe ex-Dewan. 

After the Dussera in October, Runjeet Singh's 
first journey was iqto the hills, where he paid a visit tq 
Raja Sunsar Chund at Nadoun, and collected his 
yearly tributes ; thence returning, he efiected the confis- 
cation of the Jageers and territories of Beer Singh 



A. X). 1817. RUNJEET'S HEALTtt FAILS. 118 

and Dewan Singh, two brothers of the late JoDff 
Singh Ramgurheea, valued at five lakhs of rupees yearly 
revenue. The persons of both chiefs were seized, as they 
came to the Durbar to pay their respects, without suspi- 
cion of any design against them being entertained by the 
Lah6r ruler. Umritsur was illuminated for the return of 
its sovereign on the 13th of December. 

The constitution of Runjeet Singh, though it must 
have been excellent to have carried him so long through 
a course of life consisting of alternate toils and de- 
baucheries, each extreme in degree, began now to yield 
to these incessant trials. His digestion failed, and 
with loss of strength, thinness of body, and the incapacity 
for much exertion, were superinduced. Towards the 
commencement of 1817 his health was seriously im^ 
paired, and he submitted to a course of regimen prescrib- 
ed by his native physicians, which continued for forty 
days, but produced in the end little permanent benefit. 
No military enterprize or other active operation is re- 
corded as having been undertaken in this year. The 
Sikh ruler's principal source of anxiety in the course of 
it, arose from an attachment to Ram Lal, the brother 
of his chamberlain, Khooshhal Singh, upon whom 
such unlimited bounties had been lavished, and who 
had become the great court favorite, and the bottle com- 
panion of his master. Ram Lal could not be induced 
by the most seductive ofiers to give up his Brahminical 
thread, and adopt the Sikh ritual and customs as his bro- 
ther had done. In order to avoid further importunity 
on the subject he fled to his home east of the Sutlej, 
where he was beyond the reach of the Lahdr ruler, who, 
provoked that be should have escaped, wreaked a real 

p 



114 MOOLT AN ATTACKED, A. D. lOll^lS. 

or pretended vengeance on his chamberlain, by remov<^ 
ing him from office, and placing him under restraint 
Ram Lal returned for his brother's sake, and ultimately 
received the Pahul or Sikh initiation, and changed his 
name to Ram Singh. 

The following season was employed in preparation for 
an expedition against Mooltan, of which the resources had 
been annually drained by forced contributions, ravage, 
and waste, so as to lead Runjeet Singh to hope that 
JdozuPFUR Khan's means of defence and preparation 
were now so impaired, as to make the city and fort an easy 
conquest. Before undertaking this enterprize, however, 
Runjeet Singh gave liberty to Ahmed Khan of 
Jhung, whom he had held in close confinement for nine 
months. A small Jageer was assigned to him for subsist- 
ence. The Sikh army had been ordered to rendezvous 
in the beginning of the year 1818 on the south-west 
fVontier of the Sikh dominion. KooNWUR Khuruk 
•Singh was now appointed to the nominal command^ 
aided by MisUR Dewan Chund, who had risen 
by his merit and activity from a low situation to be 
Commandant of the Artillery, and who undertook for 
the reduction of the fort of Mooltan, if vested with the 
chief command during the siege. The jealousy of the 
Jageerdars, who objected to serve under a man of yester- 
day, obliged Runjeet Singh to adopt the plan of send- 
ing his heir-apparent in nominal command of the whole. 
All the boats on the Ravee and Chunab were put in 
requisition to carry supplies and stores for the army, and 
the march was commenced in January 1818. A demand 
was made of an exorbitant sum in cash and of fivectf 
MozuFFUR Khan's best horses, and this not being 



A. D. 1818. AND TAKEN BT STORM, 115 

immediately complied wilh, his two forts of Mozaffar- 
garh and KhaDgurh were stormed and taken. In the 
course of February the city of Mooltan was occupied, 
and its citadel closely invested without much loss. The 
approaches were made according to no consistent plan, 
but every Jageerdar and chief erected his own battery, 
and a promiscuous fire was kept up from guns and small 
arms against every part of the defences. The means of 
the garrison were however so deficient, that even under 
this irregular method of attack, the wall of the citadel 
was, by the continual fire kept up,'^breached in several 
places, and the upper works and defences were nearly de-* 
molished in the course of the month of April. In May the 
approaches were carried close to the Dhool-kot, or fausse 
braye of the works, and the army became eager to be led 
to the storm; but Runjeet Singh, who, though absent, 
regulated every thing connected with the siege, forbad 
any risk being run, and continued his ofier to the Nuwab 
of a Jageer if he would surrender. He was obstinate in 
his refusal, and seemed determined to hold out to the last 
extremity. While matters continued in this state^ an 
Akalee fanatic, Sadhoo Singh^ on the 2d of June^ 
advanced without orders with a few companions, and 
attacked sword in hand, the Afghans in the Dhool-kot, 
who, being at the time asleep or negligent, were over- 
powered. The men in the Sikh trenches, seeing tjUs, 
advanced simultaneously on the impulse of the moment 
to support the attack, and the entire outwork was carried 
with a slaughter of those defending it. Flushed with 
this success, the assailants attempted the fort, and found 
ready entrance by the breaches made, the garrisoa not 
expecting assault, nor being prepared for a consistent 

|ind determined resistance. The citadel was tbas sad' 

p 2 



116 BOOTY RECOVERED FROM THE ARMY. A. D. 18lft. 

denly carried, MozuFFUR Khan with his four sons, 
and hoasehold, made a final stand at the door of his 
residence, bat fell covered with wounds. Two of 
his sons, Shah Nuwaz Khan and Huq Nuwaz, 
were also killed on the spot, and a third was left badly 
wounded. ScJRFURAZ Khan, the fourth, who had been 
vested by his father with the government under himself, 
was found in a vault or cellar, and taken prisoner. The 
citadel was now sacked, and an immense booty fell to 
the troops engaged in tbe assault. RuNJEBT Singh, 
however, was not content, that his treasury should be 
defrauded of the wealth known to have been laid up in 
this citadel, and which he had long coveted and hoped 
to have secured by a surrender on capitulation. He 
accordingly issued peremptory orders for the immediate 
return of the whole army to Lah6r, with exception to a 
detachment, under Jodh Singh Kulseea, of sufficient 
strength to hold the place, and conduct the local adminis- 
tration. SooKH Dy AL, who had taken the farm of Jhung, 
as above stated, was nominated to the civil government. 
Upon the arrival of the army at Lahdr, proclamation was 
made, that the plunder of Mooltan was the property 
of the State, and all soldiers, officers, or Jageerdars, 
possessing any article of spoil, or any money obtained 
in the sack of the fort, were ordered to bring the 
same in, and to account for the whole to the treasury, 
under penalty of heavy mulct or confinement. It afibrds 
a strong proof of the awe, in which the power and sources 
of information possessed by Runjeet Singh, were 
held by his troops, that this order produced no outrage 
or general resistance. Most of the spoil was traced and 
collected for the treasury, and, though rendered up with 
much discontent, and with many efforts at concealment 



A. D. 1818. DEATH OF FUTEH KHAN VUZEER. 117 

still the severities practised on the obstinate, and the ma- 
tnal jealousies and envy of their fellows, felt by those who 
bad been compelled to disgorge, led generally to the 
discovery of all that was valuable, so that the Toshuk^ 
khana, or jewel-office, of the Lah6r ruler, was enriched 
by this respoliation of the troops. There is but one 
example of similar audacity in a commander, and that 
was the terrible Nadir Shah, who, upon his return 
from India, when his army was crossing the Attuk, plac- 
ed a guard at the ferry, and as every one came over, 
searched his person and baggage, for every" article of the 
spoil of Dehlee, that the soldiers or followers of his 
army might have secured. 

SURFURAZ Khan and his wounded brother ZooLPi* 
KAR Khan were conducted to Lah6r, where Runjeet 
Singh assigned them a small stipend for subsistence. 
The capture of Mooltan was the only operation of the 
season, the whole Sikh army having been employed against 
the place since January, and the rains having set in as it 
fell. During that season Govind Chund, Raja of 
Datarpoor, in the hills, dying, his territory was annexed 
to the Khalsa, and his son was held in durance until he 
consented to accept a Jageer. 

This season of necessary inactivity produced, however^ 
another event of great influence on the future fortunes of 
Runjeet Singh. In the month of August 1818, the 
Vazeer Futeh Khan, whose energy and talents had 
raised Shah Muhmood to the throne of Kabool, and 
who alone kept together the turbulent and discordant 
materials of which the Afghan empire had been composed, 
was plotted against by the Prince Kamran^ the son of 



U8 TEOUBMS IN AFOHANISTAN. A. jy. 1818. 

MUHMOOD, and being treaoberoasly seized, was first 
blinded, and soon after put to death by his order. The 
y azeer had fifty brothers, all at the head of governments; 
or otherwise in the possession of power and wealth, and 
the cry to vengeance was general throaghout the kingdom. 
MoHUMMUD UzEEM posted from Kashmeer, leaving 
a. younger brother, Jubur Khan, in the valley. Taking 
the direction of the measures of resistance organized, 
he defeated the troops of Kamran, and dislodged his 
garrisons from the neighbourhood of Kabool, Ghiznee, 
and Kandahar, so that in a few months the authority of 
the weak Shah Muhmood, and his rash ill-advised son, 
was confined to the city and plain of Herat, and the rest 
of the Afghan territory was assumed and portioned out in 
separate governments and independent principalities, by 
the powerful members of this extensive family. The 
plea put forward by Kamran for his conduct towards 
the Vuzeer Futeh Khan, was, his having plundered 
the property of Feeroz-ood-deen, a prince of the blood 
royal, whom he expelled from the government of Herat, 
in order to recover it for Muhmood. The real cause, 
however, was jealousy of his power and reputation, and 
the vain conceit entertained by Kamran, that the 
Vuzeer's abilities could be dispensed with, and affairs 
conducted as well by the household and family of the 
imbecile nominal sovereign. 

The intelligence of these events determined RuNJESf 
Singh to carry his army across the Indus in the ensuing 
season, more especially as a detachment of Sikhs hkdt 
recently been overpowered by the Khotuk Moosulmansi 
and every motive of policy required, that this should tiol 
pass unrevenged. The troops having been called out is 



A. D. 1818. RUNJEET TAKES PESHAWCR. 119 

October, advanced to Attuk under Runjibbt's personal 
coinniand, and the river being forded ^ith some loss^ 
thefortreiSsof Kbyrabad, with Jngheera, and the territory 
on the opposite bank, were reduced and occupied. No 
immediate resistance was offered, F^EROZ KhAN, thb 
chief of the Khntuk tribe, made his submission, and 
RuNJEET Singh having ascertained that no organized 
force was in the field to oppose him, directed an advance 
on Peshawur. The city was entered on the 20th Novem- 
ber, Yar Mohummud Khan, the governor, retiring, 
as the Sikhs advanced, into the mountains occupied by 
the Yoosufzye tribes of Afghans. 

RuNJEET Singh remained. with his army three days 
in Peshawur, and then returned, leaving as governor on 
his behalf, JuHAN Dad Khan, to whose treachery he 
was indebted for the possession of Attuk, but whom he 
had left unrewarded hitherto, and without the promised 
Jageer. He furnished him, however, with neither troops, 
nor money, to maintain the possession. Accordingly, the 
Sikh army had no sooner crossed the Indus on its return^ 
than Yar Mohummud came down from the mountains 
with the Yoosufzyes, and expelled the Sikh governor: 
JuHAN Dad Khan fled to the southward, and there 
fell in with Shah Shooja, whom the state of affairs 
in Kabool had tempted from Loodeeana again to try his 
fortune. From him he received a free pardon, and join^ 
ed his standard. The curse of Fate was, however, on 
every enterprize undertaken by this prince, whose 
character, though amiable in many respects, and irre- 
proaqhable in all, possessed not the energy to inspire awe, 
and attach followers in troubled times, or to give confi- 
dence to those disposed otherwise to favor his cause. 



120 FAILURE OF SHAH SHOOJA's ENTERPRIZE. A. D. 1818. 

Shah Shoo j a returned destitute to Loodeeana, after a 
few months of vain wandering, and fruitless negociation 
with the Meers of Sindh, and other quondam tributaries 
and dependents of the Afghan empire now no more ; and 
JuHAN Dad Khan then made his peace with the Court 
of Herat, and proceeded thither, despairing of obtaining 
favor or advancement at that of Lah6r. 



CHAPTER EIGHTH. 



A. D. 1819 to 1822. 



Second expedition and conquest of Kashmeer. Arrange' 
mentsfor consolidating the Sikh authority in the hills. 
Conquests on the Indus. Disgrace and confinement 
of Suda Koonwur, Runjeet's Mother-in-law. Arrival 
and entertainment of French officers. 

In February and March 1819, Desa Singh Majhiteea 
was employed by Runjeet Singh, with Raja Sunsar 
Chund, in collecting the hill tribates. In the course of 
their operations they came in contact with the Raja of 
Kuhloor, whose capital, Bulaspoor, is on the British side 
of the Sutlej, but who held at that time extensive posses- 
sions north and west of that river. This chief refusing 
the tribute demanded, Desa Singh marched to occupy 
his territory, and having dispossessed him of all he held on 
the right bank of the boundary river of British protection, 
sent a detachment across it against Bulaspoor. Captain 
Ross, the Political Agent in the adjoining hills, and Com- 
mandant of a battalion of Goorkha light troops, stationed 

Q 



122 SECOND EXPEDITION AGAINST KASHMEER. A. D. 1819. 

at Sabathoo, marched immediately to the point threat- 
ened, and was joined there by a detachment from 
Loodeeana, ordered out by the Resident at Dehlee. This 
promptitude alarmed the Sikh ruler, and Desa Singh 
was ordered, not only to recall his detachment, but to 
wait upon Captain Ross, and offer every explanation 
and apology in his power. 

Nothing material occurred in the early part of this year, 
but the season was occupied in preparation for a second 
expedition against Kashmeer. To this Runjtebt Singh 
was encouraged, partly by his recent success against 
Mooltan, which had given him confidence in his troops, 
and had added largely to their reputation, but mainly by 
the state of the Afghan power, and the knowledge, that 
MohummudUzeem Khan had carried with him the most 
efficient of the troops in the valley, '!o forward bis other 
designs, and was far absent, and in no condition to render 
assistance to the Governor he had left behind him. Misur 
Dewan Chund, the conqueror of Mooltan, was selected 
by Runjeet Singh to command the present expedition, 
the Sikh ruler being influenced, partly by his bodily infir- 
mities, partly by a superstitious notion, that fortune and 
fate were against his personal success in the valley, bat 
mainly perhaps by the knowledge, that the more impor- 
tant task of expediting supplies, and supporting thd 
armies operating in advance, could best be performed 
by himself, to determine to remain within bis own frontier, 
and in the plains of the Punjab. 

In the month of April, the Sikh army was marched 
towards the frontier, and a select and strong division 
was formed there under the Misur's command to lead tbi) 



A. D. 1819. THE VALLEY PENETRATED. 128 

advance. A second army was formed to support this 
officer, and placed under the command of KooNWUH 
Khuruk Singh; while Runjeet Singh kept with 
himself a reserve to be employed as occasion might require 
in expediting stores and supplies. 

By the beginning of June, Misur Dewan Chund 
had occupied Rajaoree and Poonch, and all the hills 
and passes, south of the Peer-Punjal range. The sup- 
porting division was accordingly advanced to Rajaoree, 
to keep open the communications. The Chief of this 
last place was in rebellion, and acting with the Raja of 
Poonch in the defence of the Peer-Punjal passes. Run- 
jeet Singh, however, had given liberty to Sooltan 
Khan of Bhimbur, after a confinement of seven years^ 
and had secured the aid of his advice and co-operation, 
by holding out hopes of extensive benefit to result to him 
from the success of the enterprize. On the 23d June, 
the Misur attacked the Rajaoree and Poonch Rajas in 
their position at the Dhakee Deo and Maja passes, and 
carried them, thus securing to himself a road over the 
Peer-Punjal. Khuruk Singh with his division advanc- 
ed now to Surdee Thana, and Runjeet Singh with his 
reserves came up as far as Bhimbur, while Misur 
Dewan Chund, crossing the barrier mountains, descend- 
ed into the valley, and took up a position at Suraee Ulee 
on the road to Soopyn. 

JuBUR Khan, who had been left by Mohummud 
Uzeem, Governor in Kashmeer, was at Soopyn with 
five thousand men, to make his stand for the possession 
of the valley. The troops he had were however raw, and 
hastily raised, and unable to compete with the disciplined 

q2 



^24: CONQUEST QF KASHMEBR. A. B, 1819. 

battalions led by Misur Dew AN Chund, which besides 
pi^nombered them greatly. On the 5th July» the Sikhs 
Jiaving been famished with supplies and reinforcements 
from the rear, the Misur advanced to Soopyn, and imme* 
diately on coming in view of the Kashmeer army, order- 
ed an attack, which, after a few hours of smart fighting, 
attended with considerable loss on both sides, was com* 
pletiOly successful. The Afghans and troops of Jubur 
Khan fled at once across the mountains towards the 
Indus, leaving the valley to be occupied without further 
opposition by the victorious army of Runjeet Singh. 
Great was the joy of this chief at his success. The cities 
of Lah&r and of Umritsur were illuminated for three 
nights, and MoTEE Ram,^ son of the late Dewan 
lyioHKUM Chund, was sent as governor of the valley^ 
ftccompanied. by a strong body of troops, for the reduo<^ 
tioQ of Durbund and other strong holds, and with instruc- 
tions to spare no effort to bring the Poonch and Rajaoree 
chiefs to accept terms and make their submission. 

The arrangements, consequent upon the subjugation of 
Kashmeer, occupied Runjeet Singh for the remainder 
of the year 1819. Towards its close, the Sikh army was 
again called out, and led by Runjeet Singh in person 
to Mooltan, whence operations were directed for ravage 
ing the territories of the Nuwab of Buhawulpoor, and 
southward as far as Bfaukur, belonging to the Meers of 
Sindh, with a view to extort augmented tribute and 
contributions. Dera Ghazee Khan, on the west bank 
pf the Indus, was at the same time wrested from its 
Governor, ZuMAN Khan, and, in the settlement madd 
with the Buhawulpoor chief, the place was given to him 
in farm at a heavy rent. > 



A. D. 1820. DEATH OF RAM DYAL. 125 

RuNJEET Singh returned to Lah6r in April, 1820, 
bringing with him a horse of high repute, that he had 
extorted from Hafiz Ahmed Khan of Munk^ra. Many 
subsequent enterprizes were undertaken for similar 
animals ; the love for them, and the desire to possess all 
of any repute for excellence, being a growing passion 
carried by the Sikh chief almost to folly. The horse 
acquired in this instance, bore the name of Soofed-Puree. 

In Kashmeer the troops were employed in petty opera- 
tions against isolated chiefs. One of these. Sheer 
Zuman Khan of Gundgurh, having risen in rebellion^ 
Ram Dyal, the governor's son, and the hopeful grand- 
son of the late Dewan Mohkum Chund, was employed 
against him, and unfortunately met his death in an action, 
that took place, which was a source of deep regret to 
Runjeet Singh, no less than to his father Moteb 
Ram, and of general sympathy with all ; for be was 
a rising officer of great promise in the Sikh army. 
The Raja of Rajaoree, Agur Khan, was in the 
coarse of May seized, and made prisoner by Goo- 
lab Singh, brother of Meean Dheean Singh, the 
Deohreewala, or Lord of Privy Chambers, of the 
Labor Court. For this service, the family obtained 
in Jageer, the principality of Jummoo, with which 
they had long been connected. In June, the troops 
employed in Kashmeer, having suffered much from sick- 
ness, were relieved, and the Governor Motee Ram, 
who was of pacific devotional habits, was changed for 
a more martial chief in the person of HuRBB SiNGH 
Nalooa, a Sikh Jageerdar, who had killed H tiger single- 
banded on horse-back, with the sacrifice, however, of 
his horse. 



126 APA SAHBB & MR. MOORCROFT AT LAHOR. A. D. 1820. 

In this season, the Court of Lah6r received two visitors, 
one the ex- Raja of Nagpoor, Moodajee Bhoosla, 
commonly called Apa Saheb, who escaped as a fugitive, 
and in disguise, after the campaign, which ended in the 
capture of Aseergurh, and which finally reduced the last 
Idahratta opponent in arms of the British Supremacy in 
India. Tiie fugitive resided some time at Umritsur, while 
RuNJEET Singh was with his army to the south-west, 
but on this chief's return, he was required to quit the 
capital and dominions of the Sikh, whereupon he retired 
to seek refuge in the hills with Raja SuNSAR Chund. 
There, engaging in some intrigue with the Kabool Princes 
at Loodeeana, he was required by the Raja to leave his 
court, whereupon he proceeded to Mundee, where the 
chief Eeshuree Sein gave him temporary protection. 
The British Government, though aware of the locality 
of this fugitive's residence, made no demand for his 
person, and troubled itself no further, than to obtain 
information of his proceedings and designs. 

The other visitor was the Superintendent of the 
Company's Studs in India, the adventurous traveller 
Mr. MooRCROFT, who passed through Lah6r, on his 
route to Ludak, as a merchant proceeding to purchase 
horses in Bokhara. He was received with much civili* 
ty and attention by the Sikh, and from Ludak, which he 
reached vid Mundee, made good his route across the nor^ 
them mountains into Kashmeer. Thence descending inte 
the plains he went to Bulkh, and met his death, by fever^ 
in a rash attempt to pass a tract of unhealthy country, of 
the malaria of which at the particular season, be was fully 
forewarned, but relied too confidently on his European 
remedies, and on his own medical skill. . 



A. D. 1820. INTRIGUES AGAINST SUDA KOONWUR. 127 

After October the master of the Sikh army was taken 
at Seeal-kot, whither Runjeet Singh proceeded by 
the route of Buttala. Thence, skirting the hills, and 
sending detachments against the turbulent Chib-Bhao 
tribe to ravage their possessions ; be proceeded to Rawul 
Pindee, and dispossessing the chief, NuND Singh, 
annexed it to the Khalsa. RuNJEET Singh returned to 
Lah6r on the 13th December, and for the rest of the sea- 
son was occupied chiefly in domestic arrangements. 

■t • 

Sheer Singh, the eldest of the children brought 
forward by SuDA KooNWUR, had been adopted, and 
brought up by her with great expectations. He was noin^ 
approaching man's estate, aud began to be clamorous for a( 
Jageer, and separate establishment. Runjeet Singht 
himself encouraged him in this, hoping that the Ranee 
would make a provision suitable, from the possessionsr 
of the Ghunee Sirdaree in her management. She, how- 
ever, desired to force the recognition of the young man, 
and the making provision for him, on Runjeet, who 
was obstinate in refusing. The wily Sikh fomented the 
dispute between Sheer Singh and his adoptive mother, 
and gained over Bysakh Singh, an old and highly 
confidential retainer of the Ghunees, who was in great 
trust with SuDA KooNWUR. After this intrigue had 
been carrying on for some time, and Sheer Singh's 
complaints had made their impression, unfavorable to 
SuDA Koonwur, Runjeet Singh thought matters 
ripe for an authoritative act of interference on his part. 
He accordingly sent to his mother-in-law an order, id 
October J 820, to set apart half of her own Jageer for the 
suitable maintenance of the two youths Sheer Singh 
and Tara Singh, whom she had brought up with such 



128 SUDA KOONWVR DISGRACED. A. D. laSO. 

high expectations. She remonstrated against the order 
in vain, and being herself in the Sikh camp, then pitched- 
at Shah-Dehra, and consequently in the power of BuN4 
JBET Singh, she felt the necessity of complying so far» 
as to execute a deed making the assignment required. 
But she had no sooner done so, than she plotted the 
means of escape, and after a time left the camp Secretly 
in a covered carriage. Intelligence of her evasion was. 
conveyed to Run J BET by Bysakh Singh. Desa 
Singh was accordingly sent with a detachment of horse 
to bring her back, and she was committed by her 
son-in-law's order to close confinement. Not content 
with this punishment, Runjeet Singh ordered a 
division of his army to march and sequester all hec 
wealth and territory, and this was effected, after a 
resistance of a few weeks by one of her female attendants, 
who was in charge of the fort of Uttol-gnrh, her princi* 
pal strong hold. Thus, after an influence,' maintained 
for nearly thirty years, fell at last this high-spiritect 
woman. She bad been serviceable to Runjeet Singh^ 
indeed, was the main stay of bis power, in the early 
part of hi9 career, and it was, through her intrigues^ 
and with her aid, that RuJNJ bet was able to assuntfi 
authority sa early, and to put aside his Jl^other and 
her Dewan. The independence she assented, and thet 
high tone she w^S(ific<Histomed to assume^ diad for somq 
time beea irksoo^ .to the 8ik)i ruler in his growing 
fortunes, and her ruin was prepared by the course oi 
events, no less than by. her own unbending disposition^ 
She bore the restraint of her confinement with gre«l 
impatience, continually beating her breast in lamentatiooi^ 
and venting imprecations on the bead of her ungratefnl 
son-in-law. 



■ • » 



A. D. 1821^ EXPEDITION AGAINST MUNKERA. 129 

Another domestic event which in the time of its occurs 
rence somewhat preceded the catastrophe of Suda 
Koonwur's fall, was the birth of a son to KooNWUR 
Khuruk Singh. The event took place in February 
1821, and was the occasion of great festivity and rejoic- 
ing; the child was called Nou-Nihal Singh. In 
April, RuNJEET moved to Adeenanugur, and remain- 
ed there till July, occupied in collecting the hill tributes^ 
The two petty territories of Kishteewar and Man-K6tj 
were in this interval, annexed to the Lah6r Khalsa. The 
harshness of Huree Singh having made him unpopular 
and obnoxious to the inhabitants of Kashmeer, he had 
been removed again in December 1820, and the mild and 
peaceable Motee Ram was now re-appointed governor. 

The above events having occupied the hot season and 
rains of 1821, the Sikh army was called out as usual after 
the Dussera) and Runjeet Singh taking the command 
in person, led it to the Indus, into the possessions of the 
Chief of Mnnk^ra, Bhukur, and Leea, south of M ooltaui 
Annual contributions and forced presents had for some 
time been habitually extorted from Hafiz Ahmed, the 
Nuwab : it was determined to reduce and assume posses- 
sion of the whole of his country. With this view, the army 
marching by Ram-Nugur, Noor-Meeanee, Pind-Dadur- 
Khan, and Bheera-Khooshab, reached' the Indus af 
Meeta-Thana, and on the 6th November, was encamped 
opposite to Dera-I»maeol-Khan. A detachment of 8000 
men was sent across, and the place was surrendered on 
the 9th by Manik Raee. Bhukur, Leeab, Khangurb; 
and Moujgurh, were then all successively reduced without 
resistance. Munk^ra, fortified with a mud wall, and hav- 
ing a citadel of brick, but protected more by its positioD,' 

R 



130 SIEGE OF MUNKERA. A.B. 1821^ 

iD the midst of a desert, was now the only strppgbpld 
remaining. It was situated amongst sand hills, in which 
there was a difficulty of supplying a besieging army witli 
fr^^h water. A division w^s advanced for the investment 
of this place on the 18th, and Be^ldars were set-to dig 
w^llsy.and seek every .where for water, the trpops being 
supplied in the first instance, at great expense and trouble 
by land conveyance of this necessary from A(ouj|gurh, on 
camels, ponies, or bullocks. By the 25th IS^pvember,' 
wells sufficient having been sunk, a further division wai^ 
advanced to complete the investment of the place, an4 
KuNJEET Singh moved there himself sopn ^fter, with 
bis head- quarters, to superintend the conduct pf th^ 
siege. !p!ach tfageerdar as usual wfts allowed to conduct 
his own approaches, and an active rivalry and spirit of 
competition was kept up amongst them by Aunjeet 
Singh. Between the 26th Novepdher, and the 6th an(^ 
7th of December, the besieger's works were carried close 
to the ditch of the place, but not without ^ufifering from 
the continual fire pf the besieged. The Nuwab HAF12; 
Ahmed, conceiving that enough pow had been done ibir 
his honor, proposed terms, and stipulated for the sai:ren4^K 
of Munk^ra, under condition of Ms being allowed tQ 
march out with bis^arms and personal property, and of 
receiving thp town of D^ra-Ismaeel-Khan, with a suit* 
ablQ Jageer,. B.UNJEET 3{NGH granted the terms, an^ 
desired to be put in possession of one of the gates qf 
the fort. Solemn pledges were eicchanged, and j|fii;|i 
dresses sent to the Nuwab, and every jaeans taken tp 
allay his suspicions. Qn the 14th December 1821, b« 
admitted a Sikh detachment, and surrendered the gat9|i 
to it ; and on the 18th9 be came ont with 300 follower^ 
w4 encamped at a «pot assigned to. hira within the ^ii^Ji 



A. i). 1822. ARRIVAL OlP FRENCH OFj^ICERS. 131 

^oshioti. On the 20th, he waited on Runjeet Singh, 
tad was received with marked attention. An escort was 
sent with him to Dera-Ismaeel-Khan, and the treaty, as 
a new example of Sikh faith, was observed to the letter, 
and fully executed. An engagement for tribute was no^ 
enforced on the Balooch Moosulmans of Tonk and Sagut 
west of the Indus, and the Sikh army then moved to Dera- 
Deen-Punah. RtNJEET SiNGri here embarked on the 
Indus, sending his army by land to Mooitan. At Dera 
Ghazee Khan, he arranged with the Nuwab of Buhawnl- 
poor for an increase of tribute, and of rent upon the farms 
he held of that place, and Mitteen K6t. On the 10th 
January 1822, he rejoined his army at Mooitan, but on the 
16th posted on to Labor, leaving it to follow. On arrival 
at his capital on the 27th, he learned that one of hiS 
principal Sirdars and Jageerdars, Jy Singh Utareewala^ 
had gone over to the Afghans west of the Indus. 

It was in March of the year 1822, that the iSrst Euro- 
pean adventurers presented themselves at Runjeet 
Singh's Durbar, seeking military service, and enters 
tainment. There arrived in that month two Frenci 
oiBcers, one Monsieur Ventura, an Italian by birth, 
and the other Monsieur Allard. Both had left Europe 
to seek their fortunes in the East, upon the death blow 
given at Waterloo, to the hopes of the military youth of 
France* They had since been employed in Persia, but 
liking not the subordinate place they were there required 
to fill, they made their way after a time, through Kan^ 
dahar, and Kabool, to Lahdr. Runjeet Singh was at 
first very suspicious of their motives, and could not at all 
understand what could have induced two young men to 
leave their native country, and travel so far. He coold 

R 2 



132 runjeet's suspicions. a. D. 182^. 

not believe, that employ in his service was a safficient 
object to have induced such a journey. They had stated 
their views verbally, and had besides given several repre- 
sentations in Persian, but these failed to satisfy the sus- 
picious chief. He accordingly desired them to write 
down their views and wishes in their own language, and 
having thus obtained a paper in the French language^ 
RuNJEET sent it to his Agent at Loodeeana, to be there 
literally translated for him'^, and returned. On obtaining 

* The French paper referred to, was to the following effect. 
A Sa Majeste le Roi. 

Sire,— Les bont^s dont yotre Majesty nous a combl^s depuis notrc 
arriv^e en cette capitale sont innombrables. Elles correspondent k la 
haute id^e que nous nous etions faits de Texcellence de son bon coeur ; 
et la renomm^e, qui a port€ jusqu' k nous le nom du Roi de Lahdr, n' a 
rien dit en comparaison de ce que nous yoyons. Tout ce qui entoure 
yotre Majesty est grande, digne d'un souyerain, qui aspire k Timmorta- 
lit€. Sire, la premiere fois que nous ayons eu I'honneur d'etre present^s 
li yotre Majesty, nous lui avons expose le motif de notre yoyage. La 
reponse qu'elle adaign^enous faire nous tranquillise ; mais elle nous 
laisse dans Tincertitude pour Tavenir. C'est pour ce motif que nous 
ayons eu Thonneur de faire, 11 y a d6}k quelques joui^, une addresse avotrd 
Majesty, pour sayoir si notre arriy^e dans ses etata lui etait agr^ble, et 
si nous puissions lui ^tre de quelque utility par nos connoissances de Tart 
de la guerre, acquises comme ofiSciers superieurs sous les ordres imme- 
diats du Grand Napoleon Bonaparte, souyerain de la France. Votr^ 
Majesty ne nous a pas tir^ de Tincertitude, puisqne nous n'ayons paa 
encore rien d'ordres de sa part. Nous ayons done renouyelM notr^ 
demande en langue Francaise d'apr^s le conseil de Noor-ood-deen 
Saheb, qui nous fait croire qu*un employ^ aupr^s de yotre august^ 
personxie connoit notre langue. Dans cette incertitude nous suppliom 
yotre Majesty de daigner nous fiaire transmettre ses ordres, que nous 
suiyrons tonjours ayec la plus grande ponctualit6. 

Nous ayons Fhonneur d'etre, ayec le plus profbnd respect. 

Sire, 

De Votre M^jest^ les tr^s humbles, tr^s ob^issans 

et tr^s deyou^s Seryiteurs, 

Ch. Ventura. Ch. Auahd.^ 
Lahdr, Ist April, 1822. 



a. I>. 1822. VENTURA AND ALLARD ENTERTAINED. 133 

this satisfaction^ RuNJEET Singh gave to the two 
French officers assurance of employ ; and houses in 
Lah6r, with handsome salaries, were at once assigned to 
them. Monsr. Ventura was an Infantry Colonel in the 
French service, Monsr. Allard had similar rank in the 
Cavalry. They were both set to instruct troops in the 
European method of exercise and manoeuvre. The native 
commandants were at first extremely jealous of the favor 
shown to these Europeans, and of their exercising any 
authority or command; more especially because on 
Runjeet Singh's asking their opinion of the troops in 
their present condition, they had expressed themselves 
very slightingly as to their state of discipline and drill. 
At first they were employed on the troops at the capital, 
which were under Runjeet's own eye, and Monsieur 
Allard received orders to raise a corps of Dragoons, to 
be disciplined and drilled like the Cavalry of Europe. 
These officers by their conduct won further confidence in 
the course of time, and some others, particularly Monsieuif 
Court, who was brought up at the Polytechnic Institu- 
tion at Paris, have followed, and joined them in subsequent 
years. VENTURA is now (1833) employed with upwards of 
10,000 men in a separate command of importance towards 
Moohan, and there is a perfect confidence and good 
understanding between him, and those serving under 
him. The feeling is, however, still so adverse to Euro- 
peans on the part of the Sirdars, as to make the 
situation of these officers very hazardous and delicate 
in the event of RuNJEET Singh's decease. Monsieur 
Ventura, moreover, in 1829, had a quarrel with the 
heir-apparent, Khuruk Singh, which was with difficul- 
ty adjusted, and the consequences of which will be 



134 suDA koonwur's lands south of sutlej a. d. 1823. 

likely to be felt injurioasly whentbis prince dhall succeed 
his father. 

Towards the beginning of April, RuNJBET Singh 
went to Ukhmar, in the Jammoo hills. His army was in 
the field, under MisUR Dewan Chund, watching the 
movements of Uzeem Khan, who had come down to 
Peshawur ; where being joined by the fugitive Jageerdar, 
Jy Singh Atareewala, he was pushing back the Sikh 
posts and garrisons towards the Indus, and even threaten- 
ed Khyrabad, the principal station held by them on the 
western bank. In June, Runjeet returned to his 
capital, without achieving any enterprize of note. 

; Amongst the possessions of Suda Koonwur, was a 
small territory, called Himmutpoor Wudnee, lying south 
of the Sutlej, and held by her under grant from Runjeet 
Singh, made in September 1808, in consideration of a 
payment of 15,000 rupees. This territory being on the 
protected side of the Sutlej, could not be confiscat- 
ed with the rest. Runjeet Singh, however, compel- 
led his mother-in-law to execute in his favor, a deed 
of relinquishment of right to the territory, and armed 
with this, his agent proceeded to take forceable posses- 
sion. Upon resistance, however, by Suda Koonwur's 
manager, and complaint to the British authorities, this 
deed was at first not admitted as valid, and the lands were 
ordered to be left in the former management. They 
continued thus to be preserved from the grasp of the 
Lahdr ruler, until 1828, when upon further representa- 
tion, the Supreme Government consented to Runjeet 
Singh's assuming them under his management. Suda 



A. D. 1828, GIVEN UP TO RUNJEET. 135 

Koonwur's position was not in the least improved by 
this resalt. She continued, and to this day (1833) 
continues, to be held a close prisoner, and howsoever 
humanity may plead in her behalf, one does not see how 
she could well be treated otherwise^ being what she is, 
and has been. 



CHAPTER NINTH 



A. D. 1823 to 1831. 



Operations in Peshawur. Affair with a party ofMoosuU 
man fanatics. Mohummud Uzeem Khan retires and 
leaves Peshawur to Runjeet Singh, Death of that 
Chief — also of Sunsar Chund. Disturbances in the 
Gundgurh Mountains. Yar Mohummud confirmed as 
Governor for Runjeet Singh at Peshawur. Futeh 
Singh Aloowala retires from the Durbar. Rise of 
Seyud Ahmed, the Mohummedan Saint and reformer, 
troubles occasioned by him. Unrodh Chund of Kangra 
moved to a discreditable alliance, flies across the Sutlej* 
His possessions seized. Further disturbances and 
troubles from Seyud Ahmed. His defeat and death. 

In October, after the Dussera of 1823, the Sikh army 
was assembled at Kohtas, and master taken of the 
Jageerdars' contingents. RuNJEBT Sing was on this 
occasion more than ordinarily severe in taking account of 
the numbers, and equipment of the men produced^ and 
amongst other chiefs, who fell under his animadversioa 
for neglect, was DuL Singh Mih^rna, an old Jageerdar^ 



A. D. 1822-23. RUNJEET MARCHES TO PESHAWUR. 187 

V9ho had served with mach zeal and honor. He was 
threatened with a heavy mulct, and in other respects 
treated disparagingly ; whereupon he took poison at 
night, and so relieved himself from further troubles. The 
army moved, in December, towards Rawul Pindee, 
whence Hukeem Uzeez-ood-deen was sent forward to 
Peshawur, to demand tribute from Yar Mohummud 
Khan the Governor. This chief, being unprepared for 
resistance, collected some valuable horses, and forwarded 
them as tribute, which satisfying Runjeet Singh for 
the time, he returned to his capital in January, making 
the pilgrimage of Kitas on his route. 

Mohummud Uzeem Khan disapproved of the com- 
promise made by his brother of Peshawur, and marched 
from Kabool to superintend the affairs of this quarter in 
person. He arrived at Peshawur on the 27th January ; 
and Yar Mohummud, fearing to meet him, sought a 
temporary refuge in the Yoosufzye hills. Runjeet 
Singh now ordered his army to cross the Indus, and the 
the river was forded on the 13th March. Feeroz Khan, 
the chief of the Khutuks, being dead, a sequestration was 
made of all his possessions. On the 14th March, the 
army entered Akora, where it was joined by the fugi- 
tive, Jy Singh Utareewala, who was now anxious 
to make his terms, and be re-admitted to favor. His 
pardon was granted. Intelligence was soon after brought^ 
that Mohummud Zuman Khan, nephew of Uzbbm 
Khan, with Sudbbq Khan, son of the deceased 
Khatuk chief, Feeroz Khan, were in position at 
Noashubur near the camp, with about 4000 men, and 
had already cut off some parties of foragers. Run* 
J BET Singh ordered his army to be formed, directly ha 

s 



138 OBSTINATE RESISTANCE OF MOOSULMANS. A. D. 1823, 

learned this intelligence, and marched forthwith to attack 
the Moosulmans. The battle commenced with a furious 
charge led by Phoola Singh Akalee, a Sikh despe- 
rado, who was in the habit of rushing forward, with some 
followers of like zeal, at the commencement of action. 
The Moosulmans, however, also felt their battle to be a 
religious one, and met the fanatic Sikhs with corres* 
ponding zeal and bigotry ; so that the latter were com- 
pletely destroyed, and their leader slain. Fresh troops 
were now ordered up by Runjeet Singh, but the 
Mohummedans stood firm, and resisted every attack 
until sunset, by which time they had lost nearly half their 
originally small number, but still maintained their ground 
on two insulated hills. Kunjeet Singh now ordered 
his cavalry to surround the whole position of the enemy, 
and directed his Nnjeeb and Goorkha battalions, to 
charge and dislodge them. Twice did these troops 
advance to the charge, and twice were they repulsed by 
the determined body opposed to them, nor could the 
utmost efforts of Runjeet's army dislodge them from 
their position before nightfall. In the course of the 
night, the remnant of the band cut their way through the 
surrounding posts of the Sikhs, and so made good their 
retreat to the mountains. 

There were not more of the Moosulmans engaged on 
this occasion, than between four and five thousand men, 
and these were mere mountaineers and villagers, who 
turned out for the Ghazee, that is, to fight the religious 
battle against the infidel Sikhs. Disciplined professional 
soldiers there were none amongst them, yet did they 
resist, for a whole day, the entire army of Run J BET 
Singh, who had in the field against them not less thap 



A. D. 1823* PESHAWUR OCCUPIED. 139 

24,000 men^ and all his best troops. There were 
upwards of 1,000 men (Captain Wade says 2,000) killed 
and wounded on the side of the Sikhs^ and amongst them 
four officers of distinction, Phoola Singh Akalee, 
Ghurba Singh, and Kurum Singh Chahul, two 
Jageerdars, and Bulbhudur Singh Goorkhalee. The 
last named was the officer who had defended Nalapanee, 
with so much determination, against Generals Gillespie 
and Martindell, at the commencement of the British 
war with Nipal. After peace was re-established, he 
formed an ill-fated connexion with the wife of another, 
and, by the law of Nipal, his life became forfeit to the 
injured husband. This led to his expatriating himself, 
and taking employment from Runjeet Singh, where, 
after serving with distinction, he died in a manner worthy 
of his reputation. 

MoHUMMUD UzEEM Khan was, during this action of 
the Ghazee, or 6ghters for the faith, at Chumkawa, 
about four miles and a half east of Peshawur. He made 
no effort to succour, or support the warriors, and was 
watched in his position by a Sikh force under Kripa 
Ram, Sheer Singh, and Huree Singh, which had 
advanced by the opposite bank of the river. Upon learn- 
ing that the party was overpowered, and had dispersed, he 
retired himself to Jalalabad on the Kabool road, leaving 
the field clear to Runjeet Singh and the Sikh army. 

On the 17th March, RuNJBET SiNGH made his entry 
into Peshawur, and advanced the army to KhyburDurra, 
where it was employed in pillaging and destroying the 
cultivation. It suffered much, however, from the activi- 
ty and bigotted spirit, with which the Moosulman popula^^^ 

s 2 



140 DEATH OF MOHUMMUD UZB£M KHAN. A. D. 182S 

tion attacked its parties^ and cat off all stragglers ; aD< 
the camp was kept daring the night continaally on thi 
alert by their daring skirmishes. 

In April, Runjeet Singh secured the sabmissiono 
Yab Mohummud Khan, who came with some fim 
horses, including the far-famed Kuhar, and with areques 
to be allowed to hold Peshawur as a tributary of Lahdr 
The Sikh was well content to make a settlement for th< 
city and surrounding territory on this basis. Havinj 
effected it, he returned to his capital in person on th 
26th April. 



y. 



Mohummud Uzbem Khan died in the followinj 
month, and the event contributed to produce ^urther con 
fusion in the affairs of Afghanistan ; for while he lived 
he was looked upon as the head of the family in succes 
sion to Futeh Khan, whereas after his death th< 
numerous brothers and nephews of that chief acknow 
lodged nobody, and their quarrels and contentions coveret 
with outrage and disturbance, all the fairest portion o 
the Afghan territory. Muhmood and his son Kamrai 
were conflned to the fort and city of Herat, beyoni 
which their name was no where respected, nor could thei 
exercise any authority. 

After the Dnsserah, in October, the Sikh army being 
again called out, was led by Runjeet Singh down the 
Indus, with the professed design of an attack upon 
Sindh. The river was crossed in November, and the 
whole of that month was occupied in reducing Bhntee 
villages, and exacting contributions from the Baloodi 
and other Jageerdars, whose possessions lay on tho 



A. D. 1824. HUREE SINGH BESET IN THE HILLS. 141 

extreme northern frontier of the Sindhian territory. The 
Lahdr Chief was however content with having thus felt 
his way this season, and in December moved his army 
homeward. At the close of the year Raja SuNSAR 
Chund of Kangra died, and was succeeded by his 
son Unrodh Chund. A Nuzarana was demanded on 
the succession ; and, upon the young Raja demurring to 
the payment, Runjeet Singh summoned him to attend 
in person at his summer residence of Adeenanugur. He 
was persuaded by the FuQEER Uzeez-ood-deen ta 
obey the summons^ and met the court at Juwala Mookhee. 
On arrival, an exchange of turbands took place, and mutual 
pledges were interchanged, between him and Khuruk 
Singh on the part of the Durbar; and, after much 
negociation, a lakh of rupees was at last settled, and paid^ 
as the Nuzoikna of accession, by Unrodh Singh. 

Huree Singh Nulowa, who had been left with a 
force to overawe the turbulent Moosulman population of 
the mountains about Gundgurh and Dnrbund, contrived 
by several harsh and vexatious proceedings, and particu* 
larly by the seizure of a Seyud's daughter of beauty, and 
credit in her tribe, to drive the whole into insurrection. 
The insurgents collected in such force, as to compel 
Huree Singh to stockade himself, and remain on the 
defensive, and he wrote to Runjeet Singh, represent- 
ing the difficulties of his situation, and soliciting rein- 
forcements. Runjeet ordered him to put on a bold 
face, and maintain himself as he could, but sent no im- 
mediate reinforcements, indeed the rains had' set in, and 
it was not easy to do so. HuREB Singh in the meaof 
time being attacked, suffered a severe loss, and was com- 
pelled to retire before the insurgents. The Sikh army 



142 CAMPAIGN IN THE KASHMEER MOUNTAINS. A.D* 1824. 

was in consequence of this disaster, called out earlier than 
usual, and directed against the hills between the Indus 
and Kashmeer, in the early part of October. By the 
19th, RuNJEET had penetrated with a division of his 
troops to Gundgurh, but found the population dispersed, 
and nothing but empty walls and deserted houses ; the 
place with all the surrounding villages was burnt and pil- 
laged, the unripe crops were used for forage to the army, 
andRuNJEET Singh following the deserters, determined 
to ford the Indus after them, an attempt in which many 
lives were lost, but the object was effected on the 3rd 
November. When the army was well across, MoHUM- 
MUD Yar Khan was summoned to attend from Pesha- 
wur, which after some hesitation he did on the 16th 
November, bringing a present of horses, which were at 
first rejected, as of inferior quality, but, being replaced by 
others, the offering was accepted, and the terms on which 
Peshawur had been assigned were renewed with fresh 
protestations and oaths of allegiance on the part of the 
Afghan chief. On the 30th November, the Sikh army 
re-crossed the Indus, not without further loss, from the 
depth and bad footing at the ford. , On the 10th Decern-* 
her, Runjeet Singh re-entered his capital by no means 
satisfied with the result of the expedition of the season, 
for he had incurred heavy expenses in preparation, and 
yet had been able to inflict no blow on the turbulent 
body of Mohummedans in insurrection, and had levied 
very little in the way of tribute and contribution. No 
further expedition was attempted in 1824, nor in the 
early part of the following year. Indeed the Burmese 
war had been commenced by the British Government, 
and Runjeet Singh seemed to watch with intense 
interest all the events and operations of it. The most 



A. D. 1825. INTRIGUES AND SEQUESTRATIONS. 143 

exaggerated reports were spread at first of the suc- 
cesses of the Burmese, and there were not wanting 
counsellors to instil into the ear of the Lah6r ruler, 
that the time was approaching, when the field would 
be open to him to the east. It was at this period, 
that Mr. Moorcroft forwarded to Calcutta, a let- 
ter of Prince Neselrode, the Russian Minister for 
Foreign Afiairs, addressed to Rcjnjeet Singh, purport- 
ing to introduce an agent named Agha Mehdee. The 
agent it seems was endeavouring to make his way by the 
difficult route of Tibet, and either died, or was murdered^ 
some few stages from Lud^k. There Mr. Moorcroft 
obtained his papers, and amongst them this letter, which 
he procured to be translated afterwards by M. KsoMA 
de Koros, with whom he fell in on his travels. The 
letter, except as introductory of the agent, was merely one 
of compliment, with assurances of protection to any 
merchants of the Punjab, who might penetrate to the 
Russian dominions. 

No Military enterprize was undertaken in the season 
1824-1825: but, towards April 1825, sequestration was 
made of all the Jageers and possessions formerly assign- 
ed to Dewan Mohkum Chund, and now managed for 
MoTEECHUNDby Kripa Ram, the Dewan's grandson. 
The bad management of the Jageers, and the inefficient 
contingent kept up by this agent, were the assigned 
reasons, Motbe Ram himself being left in his govern- 
ment of Kashmeer, and subjected to no indignity, or 
diminution of favor, consequent upon the sequestration. 
In the Dussera of 1825, the army was called into the field, 
with the avowed purpose of an expedition against Sindh. 
With this view. Run J bet Singh marched the troops to 



144 FLIGHT OF FUTBH SINGH ALOOWALA. A. D. 1825-29. 

Pind-Dadar-Khan, bat learning there, that the Sindb 
coantry was suffering from scarcity and famine, he gave 
up the design, and returned to Lah6r on the 24th Novem- 
ber. An agent he had sent into Sindh to demand tribute, 
returned with Vakeels from the ruling Meers, who for 
some time continued to reside at Lahdr. It was at this 
period that Runjeet Singh's close associate hitherto, 
and turband brother, Futeh Singh Aloowala, conceiv- 
ed some suspicions as to the safety of his position at the 
Lah6r Durbar, and suddenly left that capital to place 
himself in security within the possessions held by him on 
the protected side of the Sutlej. RuNJEET Singh was 
much vexed at this sudden step of his old ally, and made 
great efforts to induce the chief to return, and resume 
his place in his Durbar. The British officers, while they 
confirmed him in the assurance of the inviolability of his 
territory on the protected side of the Sutlej, advised his 
not yielding to vague suspicions, as a ground for breaking 
a friendship of so long standing, as had subsisted between 
himself and Runjeet. Guided by this advice Futeh 
Singh some time after, that is, in April 1827, yielded to 
the invitations of the Lahdr ruler, and returning to hik 
Durbar was well received, the Maha Raja sending his 
grandson Nou-NiHAL, to give him the meeting of honor. 
He soon, however, became an object of rapacity, being 
called upon to pay tribute, or take in farm at no easy rent, 
much of the territory he had hitherto enjoyed free, by thai 
assignment of his turband brother. 

The year 1826 passed without any military enterpriiM 
or event of importance. Sadiq Mohummud Khan, 
the Nuwab of Bahawulpoor, died in April, and was sao^ 
ceeded by Buhawul Khan^ the present Nuwab^ whb 



k. D. 1826*27. RISE OF SEYUD AHMED; 145 

renewed his father's leases and engagements with RuN- 
JEET SlNGH^ for the territory he held west and north 
of the Sutlej. In September, a question arose upon the 
application of Qootub-ood-deen of Kasoor to be re^ 
ceived under British protection, as holder of Mundot 
and Rnmnawala on the left bank of the Sutlej, but the 
fendatorv relations this chief had come under to Runjeet 
Singh for these, as for his other possessions, forbad 
the British Government from holding out the hope that 
he could be received under protection as an indepen- 
dent Chief. An unsuccessful attempt by Beer Singh» 
£x-Raja of Noorpoor, in the Hills, to recover the 
territory, from which he had been ejected since 1816, 
forms the only other event recorded in this year. He 
wag defeated and made prisoner by Desa Singh* 
A main cause of the inactivity of the Sikhs arose from 
the increasing infirmities of Runjeet Singh: His 
indispositions and ailings increased upon him so much, 
towards the end of the year, that he applied to the British 
Government for a medical officer, and Dr. Andrew 
Murray was sent over from Loodeeana to attend hi« 
Highness^ 

It was in the early part of 1827, that the reformer 
Seyud Ahmed, raised the green standard of Mohummud 
in the Mountains inhabited by the Yousuf-Zyes, and com- 
menced a religious war against the Sikhs» This indivi- 
dual was originally a petty officer of horse in the service of 
Ameer Khan, Upon the breaking up of the military 
establishment of that Chief in 1818-19, Seyud Ahmed 
took a fanatic turn ; and fancying he had received special 
revelations, went to Dehlee, and associated lumself 
with some Mooluvees of sanctity of that city. One of 

T 



146 .SEYUD AHMED DEFEATED. . A. D. 1827. 

them collected these revelations into a book ; and from 
ittheSEYUD, and his associates, and followers, com* 
menced preaching against many irregularities that had 
crept into the practise of the Mohummedan religion. 
Amongst the principal were, the reverence paid by the 
Mooslims of Hindoostan to the tombs of saints and rela-* 
tions, the manner of their celebrating the death of H U8UN 
and HooSEiN, the sons of Ulbe, and other similar 
ijustoms, which these reformers denonnced as idolatroas, 
and as deviations from the pure precepts of the Koran, 
in 1822, Seyud Ahmed came down to^ Calcntta, and 
was there ranch followed by the Moosalman population. 
Thence he took ship to make the pilgrimage of Mekka. 
On his return, he travelled through Hindoostan, and 
declared the intention of devoting himself to the service 
of his religion, by waging an interminable holy war 
against the Sikh infidels. Many zealots and fanatics 
j6ined him, and subscriptions of money were poured in 
upon him from all parts of the British possessions* Thus 
armed and prepared, he made bis way to the hills near 
Peshawur, and raised the Mohumdee Jhenda as above 
stated amongst the Yoosufzye Moosulmans. RuNJEBT 
Singh was compelled by the formidable character of the 
insurrection thus organized, to send a strotig force across 
the Attdk, for the protection of Kbyrabad and his interests 
in that quarter. In the month of March 1827, the 
Seyud at the head of a countless irregular host, ventured 
to attack this force, which was commanded by Boo0ii 
Singh Sindoowaleea, and had 'thrown up works to 
strengthen itself in- its position; The Sikh discipUfae 
and superior equipment' secured them an '^asy Victory, 
and the Seyud, being entirely defeated^ retired with bis 
followers into the hills^ whence he kept up a desulieiy 



A. D. 1827. MISSION TO LORD AMHERST. 147 

and annoyiug warfare with the Sikhs, direated against 
their convoys and small detachments. 

.Lord Amherst passed the hot season of the year 
1827» at the station of Shimla, near Subathoo, in the 
hills east of the Sutlej. The proximity of this posi- 
tion, to Lah6r induced Runjeet Singh to send a 
mission of compliment to His Lordship, with presents, 
and amongst others a handsome tent of shawl for the 
King of England. The mission was received with 
distinction, and a return compliment made of the same 
kind. : Captain Wade, the officer at Loodeeana, throagb 
whom the correspondence with the Lahdr ruler was. 
conducted, and some officers of the Governor General'^ 
personal suite, were deputed to Lah6r with return pne« 
sents, and a suitable retinue, to express the Gover-» 
nor General's satisfaction at the terms of cordiality 
and friendship, which subsisted between the two states. 
In 1828, the British Commander in Chief, Lord CoM«- 
BERMERE, passed the warm season at Shimla, and a 
complimentary Vakeel was sent over by Runjeet 
Singh, to oiTer his congratulations. It was his Lord-* 
ship's desire to procure an invitation in person to 
Lahdr, but the wily Chief evaded compliance with this- 
wish. 

• - ' 
At the Durbar of Lah&r, at this time, the entire favor, 
of the Chief was engrossed by Raja DiiBBAN Singh,-. 
the Chamberlain, and his brothers GooLAB SiNOH and 
Soochet Singh, Meeans of Jummoo, where their 
influence had been re-established under Runjbbt 
Singh* s authority, by the grant of the place in Jageer in 
1819, as before related. Hbera Singh, a boy of about 

t 2 



148 FAVOR SHOWN TO DHBBAN SINGH. A. D. 1827-1!8» 

twelve years of age, son of Raja Dheban Singh, 
was the object of particular favor, Runjeet Singh 
seldom suffering him out of his sight, and seeming to 
delight in humouring all his whims and caprices. In 
common with his father and uncles, he was created Raja, 
and Runjeet Singh studied to procure him a high 
matrimonial alliance. It was about this time that Raja 
Unrodh Chund, son of Sunsar Chund of Kangra, 
paid a visit to Lah6r, with his family, on his route to 
attend the nuptial ceremonies of the Aloowala's son, 
Nihal Singh. He had with him two sisters, on whom 
Raja Dheean Singh cast his eyes, desiring them to be 
joined in matrimony with his family. The pride of the 
hill chief was roused at the proposition of so degrading 
an alliance, but the influence of Runjeet Singh pro^ 
cured from him a written promjise, that the two young 
women should be at his disposal. The mother of Unrodh 
Chund, however, succeeded in carrying them off, and 
took refuge with them in the hills under British protec- 
tion, whither Unrodh Chund himself soon followed, 
leaving his possessions on the other side of the Sutlej at the 
mercy of Runjeet Singh, who sequestered the whole, 
and received the surrender of them without any resistance 
from Futeh Chund, Unrodh's brother. A Khawas or 
concubine of Raja Sunsar Chund, named Guddun,. 
was enticed away from the family, and fell on this occa« 
sion into Runjeet Singh's hands, with several children 
she had borne to the late Raja. Two of the daughters 
the Sikh married himself, and upon a son he conferred, 
the title of Raja with a considerable Jageer. The nup-» 
tials of Heera Singh were at the same time celebrated 
with great pomp, though not with a member of the Kan- 
gra family. 



A. B. 1829. SEYUD AflMED*S RE-APPEARANCE. 149 

In the bourse of 1829, Seyud Ahmed again appeared 
in the field in great strength, and his vengeance was di- 
rected against Yar Mohummud Khan, who, he declar- 
ed, had sacrificed the cause of his religion by swearing 
allegiance, and accepting service from the Sikhs. As the 
Seyud approached Peshawur, Yar Mohummud moved 
out with such troops as he could collect for its defence. 
In the action which followed, however, he received a 
mortal wound, and his troops dispersed. Peshawur was 
saved to Runjeet Singh by the opportune presence 
there of Monsieur Ventura, who had gone with a small 
escort, to negociate with Yar Mohummud Khan for 
the surrender of a famous horse called Lylee. The horse 
had been demanded in the previous year, but the Afghans 
declared it was dead. The falsity of this declaration 
being discovered, a written engagement had been extort- 
ed from Yar Mohummud, pledging himself for its deli- 
very, and Monsieur Ventura was deputed to enforce the 
execution of this deed. Upon the death of Yar Mohum- 
mud, he took upon himself to make dispositions for the 
defence of Peshawur, and wrote to Runjeet Singh for 
instructions as to his further proceedings. The Sikh 
directed the city to be delivered over to SooLTAN Mo- 
hummud Khan, brother of the deceased Yar Mohum- 
mud, but urged the securing possession of the famous 
horse Lylee, as an indispensable preliminary. Monsieur 
Ventura succeeded fully in thisnegociation, and brought 
away Lylee, leaving Sooltan Mohummud in posses- 
sion of the government of Peshawur. 

M. Ventura had not been long gone, when Seyud 
Ahmed appeared again, with his host of Yoosufzyes, 
before Peshawur, and Sooltan Mohummud, venturing 



150 SEYUD AHMED TAKES PESHAWUR. A. D. 1830. 

an action, was defeated, so that Peshawur fell under the 
temporary power of the fanatic Chief. Runjeet SiNOfi 
took the field with his army in the early part of 1830, to 
panish this pretender. . On his crossing the Attuk, how^ 
ever, and approaching Peshawar, the insurgent force dis« 
solved before him, and nothing tangible appeared on 
which he could wreak his vengeance. He returned to 
Lah6r, leaving a strong detachment across the Indus, to 
act as occasion might ofiTer, and having restored Sooltan 
MoHUMMUD to his government. This Chief, after the 
departure of Runjeet Singh, found it convenient to 
come to terms with Seyud Ahmed> who again came 
down, and by a sudden attack carried Peshawur. The 
Governor consented, to allow free passage to men and 
money proceeding to join the reformer — to place the 
administration of justice in Peshawar in the hands of a 
Kazee, and bfiicers of the reformed faith and principles, 
and to pay monthly to the Seyud the sum of 3000 rupees^ 
The city was on these conditions restored ta Sooltan 
MoHUMMUD, but the Seyud had no sooner retired, than 
the Kazee and two Moolvees left to administer justice 
according to his reformed principles, were slain in a popa-* 
lar tumult. Seyud Ahmed's difficulties increased, for the 
Yoosufzyes took offence at some innovations he desired to 
introduce into the marriage ceremony, and were alarmed 
by his announcing the doctrine, that a tenth of all income, 
or revenue, should be subscribed for religious and state 
purposes. The wild untutored nM>antaineers rose againsi 
the preacher's authority, and not only rejected these doo-t 
trines, but compelled the Seyud, and his immediate fol* 
lowers, to leave their mountains. He fled across the 
Indus, and found a temporary refuge in the mountains of 
Pekhlee and Dhumtour. Runjeet Singh, however^ 



A. D. 1830-31. IS SLAIN IN BATTLE. 151 

sent a detachment against him, under Sheer Singh, 
and in the early part of 1831, the detachment was fortu- 
nate enough to fall in with him, when after a short, but 
smart engagement, the Seyud's force was dispersed and 
himself slain. His head was cut off, and sent in to be 
recognized and identified. His followers in Hindoos tan 
have, however, difficulty in believing yet, that he is dead; 
and still hope to see him revive in energy, and display 
himself in some great action, for the permanent benefit 
of the faith of MoHUMM UD, and for the extension of the 
dominion and power of its professors. 

Since the death of the Seyud, the neighbourhood of 
Feshawnr has been comparatively tranquil, and there has 
been no occasion to call out the Sikh army, nor has 
RuNJEET Singh engaged in any military enterprize of 
importance. 



CHAPTER TENTH. 



A. D. 1829 to 1831. 



Mission of Lieutenant Burnes with a present of dray 
horses for Ruryeet Singh. His journey through Sindhf 
and up the Indus and Ravee to Lahdr, Mission to 
Lord William Bentinck at Shimla. Meeting arranged 
between the Governor General and Ruryeet Singh, 
Takes place in October 1831. Commercial Treaty 
concluded between the British Government and Sindh. 

iVhbn Lord Amherst retarned to Earope in 1828> 
he carried with him the shawl tent presented by RuN- 
J E£T Singh to the King of England. It was determined 
to send from England a return present, and a very extra** 
ordinary selection was made; upon whose advice, has not 
transpired. It was resolved to send to Run jeet Singh, 
on the part of His Majesty, a team of cart horses, four 
mares and one stallion, upon some conception, that, ia 
his love for horses, Runjeet Singh must be a breeder 
of the animal, and would be well pleased to have mares 
of large size to cross with the breeds of the Punjab. The 
fact, however is, that Runjeet has no breeding stud nor 



A. D. 1829. PRESENT FROM THE KING TO RUNJEET. 153 

establishment, and cares only for entire horses of high 
courage, well broken in to the manage of Hindoostan, 
that he can ride himself, on parade, or on the road, or set 
his choice sirdars and favorites upon. The result fully 
showed this, for when the cart horses arrived at his court, 
the stallion was immediately put into the breaker's hands, 
and taught the artificial paces usuaL This animal with 
its enormous head, and coarse legs, stands always in the 
palace yard, or before the tent of the chief, decorated 
with a golden saddle, and necklaces of precious stones, 
and is sometimes honored by being crossed by RuNJEET 
Singh himself. The mares are never looked at, and are 
matters of absolute indifference to the Sikh. It is, how- 
ever, an anticipation to state what happened on the ar- 
rival of the animals, their adventures on the road to Lah6r, 
involved matters of higher interest. 

It was resolved to make the transmission of this pre- 
sent, a means of obtaining information' in regard to the 
Indus, and the facilities, or the contrary, it might ofier to 
navigation. The recent successes of Russia in Persia, 
and the probability of that power entertaining further 
designs, either present, or hereafter, when the succes- 
sion of Abbas Meerza to the throne of Persia, might 
render that kingdom a province of Russia, made it desir- 
able, that every intelligence should be collected, as to the 
frontier states of India, and the means of defence offered 
by this great river barrier in particular. The dray 
horses were accordingly sent out to Bombay, and the 
Supreme Government instructed Sir John Malcolm, 
the Governor of that presidency, to take measures to have 
them forwarded under charge of an intelligent and pru- 
dent officer, in boats up the Indus. Some demur was 

u 



164 MISSION OF LT. BVRNES UP THE INDUS. A. B. 183(K 

anticipated on the part of the rulers of Sindh to allowing 
them passage through the Delta and lower part of the 
river, but it was assumed that the governing Meers, 
situated as they were relatively to Runjeet SingH 
on one hand, and the British Government on the other, 
would not readily incur the risk of offending both powers* 
by refusing a passage altogether, if it were insisted 
upon. 

Sir John Malcolm, having received the horses, for- 
warded them to Kuchh, and appointed to the Mission to 
Lahdr, in charge of them. Lieutenant BURNBS, the Assis-* 
tant to Colonel Potting er, who was in Political charge 
of that district and of the British relations with Sindh* 
The young oflScer thus selected had been in the Quartet^ 
Master General's Department, and was in every respecl 
qualified for the duty. With him was sent Ensign Lec« 
kie, as a companion, and to take the charge, in case of 
any thing happening to Lieutenant BurneS;. Sir John. 
Malcolm added to the dray horses the present of a 
carriage of his own, as useless an article to RuNJEBT 
Singh as the mares. The highly ornamental carriage 
sent to him by Lord MiNTO in 1810, after being used 
for a few days as a novel plaything, had ever since 
remained neglected in the great arsenal at Lah6r. The 
carriage and horses, however, being laden in appropriate 
vessels, were dispatched from Kuchh towards the end <tf 
the year 1830, and Sir John Malcolm thought the 
most politic course would be, to send them without previ- 
ous notice or correspondence with the Meers of Sindh, 
thinking the necessity they would thus be under of decide 
ing suddenly, would be likely to contribute to the saeeess 
of the expedition. 



▲'. D. 1831. OPPOSITION OF THE MEERS OF SINDH. 155 

•Lieatenant B urn es accordingly started, carrying with 
kim the letters announcing the purpose of his comingi 
and entered with his Beet one of the mouths of the Indus, 
Passing up to the first inhabited town he forwarded his 
dispatches to Hydurabad. After a detentioa of some 
days, he was, on the 1st February, met by an officer and 
guard from Darajee, who requested him to wait at the 
mouth of the river, till orders should arrive from Hydura-^ 
bad. With this he complied, but there experienced so 
much incivility from the Kurachee people, who relieved 
the guard from Darsyee, that he resolved to return and 
wait in Kuchh till the Meers should decide upon his 
coming. The reply of the Meers to the applications made 
for this purpose being delayed beyond reason, Lieut« 
BuRNBS sailed again for the Indus, and entered the 
Pyteeanee mouth of that river. Permission to land being 
still refused, and even fresh water being withheld, Lieut. 
BuRNES found it necessary again to retrace his steps^ 
and was nearly lost in a storm, which scattered his 
fleet, and drove the vessel which carried himself upon the 
bar at the mouth of the Pyteeanee. The month of 
February was lost in these fruitless attempts to penetrate^ 
The objections of the Meers seemed to be insuperable. 
They were at this time founded mainly on the alleged 
difficulty of the navigation, and on the distracted state of 
the country between Sindh and Lah6r, both of which 
were greatly exaggerated, in order to dissuade Iiient. 
BURNBS from attempting the route by the. river Indus« 
The mission having returned to Kuchh, as above stated 
on the 23d February, Colonel PoTTiNGBR opened a cor-* 
respondence with the Meers, and sent an agent to Hydu* 
rabad to endeavour to overcome the repugnance shown to 
letting it pass through Sindh. lie made light of coarse of 

u 2 



156 LEAVEFORTH£MISSIONTOPASSOBTAINED. A.D. 1831. 

all that was stated of the diflScalty of navigations and of 
the dangers from the unsettled state of the coantry ; and 
pointed out that the horses and bulky carriage could 
not by possibility be forwarded in any other way than 
by water, so that it would be a most unfriendly act 
to both Governments to refuse a passage. The season of 
1831 was fast wearing away, and there was still delay in 
the Council at Hydurabad, in making up its mind on this 
important matter. A strong letter however of Colonel 
Potting ER at last convinced the Chiefs, and Mber 
MooRAD Ulee, the ruler of the country, in particular, 
that permission for the horses, and other articles of pre- 
sents, to pass up to Lahdr, could not in decency, and with- 
out giving offence, be refused. The requisite leave was 
accordingly forwarded, and Lieutenant BuRNES sailed 
again on the 10th March, and on this occasion entered 
the Ruchel mouth by Kurachee Bundur, the extreme 
western channel of the river, llere difficulties were 
made, and delays interposed, so as to induce Lieutenant 
BuRNES to start by land for Hydurabad, in the hope of re^ 
moving them by personal negociation. He had proceed- 
ed no further than Tatta, when after much chicanery he 
received the required permission to pass by the route of 
the Indus. Boats of the country were now furnished to 
him, and every possible assistance rendered for his con* 
veyance to Hydurabad, no effort being spared to obliterate 
the effects of the previous unfriendly treatment he had 
experienced. At the capital he was received in Durbar 
with great distinction, a chief of rank was appointed to 
attend him on his journey, and the best accommodation- 
boats on the river, even those of the ruling Meer himself^ 
were assigned for his conveyance. Every where in Sindh 
he met with the same i^ttention, and proceeded on his 



A. D. 1831. LT. BURNES SAILS UP THE INDUS. 15T 

voyage by Tatta to Hydarabad^ and thence after a short stay 
to Bhukur» making his observations as the boats leisurely 
proceeded. The Mission reached Tatta on the 15th, and 
Hydorabad on the 18th April, 1831, and the month of 
May had closed before it left the Indas, and entered the 
Chunab. The river was then at its lowest, but no where 
was there the slightest difficulty, or obstruction to the 
navigation. 

It may be necessary to state, that Sindh is divided into 
three independent Governments : the first, and by far the 
most considerable, is Hydurabad, ruled at this time by 
Meer Moorad Ulee, last survivor of the four brothers, 
who, in 1780, eflfected the revolution, which transferred 
the dominion of the country to the present Talpoor Meers. 
The second division is that of Khyrpoor, to the north of the 
first, and lying on both sides of the river Indus. Its pre- 
sent ruler is Meer Roostum Khan, the eldest son of 
Meer Soohrab Khan recently deceased. The third 
division is that of Meerpoor, .lying towards Kuchh, and 
ruled by Meer Ulee Moorad Khan. These sub-divi- 
sions of the country, had their origin in a partition made 
amongst the principal conspirators, by whose exertions 
the Talpoorees obtained power. 

Having passed through the Hydurabad territory, 
Lieutenant Burnes was received with even increased 
attention and kindness by the ruler of Khyrpoor, who 
professed a strong desire to cultivate a more inti- 
mate relation with the British Government, and made 
Lieutenant BuRNES the bearer of a communication 
to this efifect to the Governor General. By this 
chief the mission was carried forward to the territory of 



158 ARRIVAL AT MOOLTAN, A. D. 183U 

the Nawab of Bubawulpoor, without experiencing the 
smallest obstraction or difficulty of any kind : there wa^ 
found no where less than eight feet water, and the cur- 
rent was moderate, and easily overcome, even where from 
rocks, or hard soil at the banks, the water-way was con- 
tracted. The month of May was now passing, during 
which the navigation of the Ganges is much obstructed 
by strong westerly winds, and by the want of water, but 
no difficulty of the kind impeded the passage up the 
Indas at this season. The Buhawulpoor chief was alrea* 
dy in political relation, both with RuNJEBT Singh and 
with the British Government : from him therefore LieuU 
BuRNES was sure of receiving every kindness. On the 
SOth May, the fleet reached Mittunkot, and embarking 
on other boats provided by the chief of the Daood- 
pootras (BuHAWUL Khan) entered the Chunab, or as it 
is sometimes called the Punjnud, being the united streanl 
of the waters of the Punjab. A. little below Mooltan, the 
escort and party sent by Runjbbt Singh to receive and 
conduct the Royal* present, met Lieutenant BuRNBS 
with boats of the Punjab, adapted to the navigation of the 
winding Ravee. In these Lieutenant BuRNBS and his 
party embarked on the 12th Jane, and soon reached 
Mooltan. The mouth of the Ravee is further up thd 
Sutlej, and he did not enter that branch till the 23d June. 
The rainy season overtook the Mission while in that river^ 

* It is a singular circumstance, that Sir J. Malcolm in all the instmc- 
tions he gave Lieutenant Colonel Pottinger and Lieutenant BurnSS 
in regard to this Mission, never mentioned, nor gave the smallest intima* 
tion to either officer, that the dray horses were a present from the King of 
England. They made the discovery after the difficulties in respect to the 
passage through Sindh had been overcome, when a direct correspondence 
with the Mission was opened by the Governor General. Up to this tiiMi 
they had believed, and had represented the present to be sent from the 
British Government in India. 



▲. D.1881* AND AT LAUOR. Xd9 

and the progress up it was tedious in the extreme, being 
dependent entirely on the track rope. 

On the 17th of July, Lieutenant BuRNES reached 
Lahor, where his arrival with the present from the Kipg 
of England, and with the letter of Lord Ellen borough 
which accompanied it, was a source of great pride and 
rejoicing to Runjeet Singh. The attention he paid 
to Lieutenant Burnes was very marked, and he had in- 
vited Captain Wade over from Loodeeana, to assist at 
the ceremonial of reception. From Lah6r, Lieutenant 
Burnes proceeded to Shimla, to render to the Go- 
vernor General an account of his mission, and to lay 
before his Lordship the valuable information obtained 
during it. This enterprizing and zealous officer obtaine4 
VL\% Lordship's permission, to return to his presidency of 
Bombay through Persia, ai^d to explore the route of 
Buikh and Bokhara, after first crossing the Punjab and 
Kabool territory, in order that he might be the means, of 
adding information of this little known route, to the storeif 
of intelligence already contributed by him. , 

The very favorable disposition in which the ruler of 
Lah6r seemed to be at this juncture, encouraged Lord 
William Bentinck to hope, that a proposition for a 
personal meeting between himself and Runjeet Singh 
would be likely to be well received. He accordingly 
instructed Captain Wade> when at Lahdr, on the occa- 
sion above related, to sound the Chiefs confidential 
advisers on the subject. As anticipated by His Lord- 
ship, the Ruler of Lah6r showed great desire for the meet- 
ing, but some difficulty was at first started in respect to 
the etiquette of a previous return mission, Runjeet 



160 MEETING OF RUNJEET & THE GOV. GENL. A. D. 1831. 

Singh having paid his Lordship the compliment of 
sending, one, similarly composed to that which waited 
on Lord Amherst. The mission had been received 
by Lord William Bentinck in April, soon after his 
arrival at Shimla : its members were the Dewan MooTEB 
Ram, son of Mohkum Chund, Huree Singh Sirdar, 
and the secretary, Fuqeer Uzeezooddeen. They 
had been treated by the Governor General with mnch 
distinction^ and a return mission of some of the princi- 
pal ofBcers of His Lordship's suite had been promised^ 
or rather held oat in expectation. The personal meet- 
ing between the heads of the two states would neces- 
sarily deprive Runjeet Singh of this compliment; for 
in the first place, the time would scarcely allow of both, 
seeing that the intended journey of the Governor General 
to Ajmeer and Rajpootana required, that, if arranged 
at all, the interview should take place before the end of 
October, and in the second, if a formal mission were sent, 
immediately before the meeting, it would have the ap- 
pearance in the eyes of the world, of being sent to suppli- 
cate, or induce the ruler of the Sikhs to come to the 
interview, whereas the rank and position of the Head of 
the British Government required, that the honor of a per- 
sonal conference with him should be sought. 

With a liberality, not inconsistent with his general 
character, Runjeet Singh, having made up his mind to 
the interview, gave up the point of etiquette, and pre- 
paration was made on both sides, for the meeting to take 
place on the Sutlej about the 20th of October, without any 
previous return mission : the neighbourhood of Roopur 
was subsequently fixed upon as the most appropriate and 
convenient spot for the meeting. 



A. D. 1831. PREPARATIONS. IGl 

In order to give the requisite ^clat to the occasioD, and 
to form a saitabie escort, the Governor General ordered 
up to Roopur from Meerut and Kurnal, two squadrons 
of European lancers, with the mounted band of the regi- 
ment, (H. M. 16th Lancers,) an European Regiment 
(H. M. 31st Foot) two battalions of Native Infantry 
(the 14th and 32d,) .and eight guns of horse artillery, 
also two squadrons of Colonel Skinner's Irregular 
Horse. . The escort was thus composed, in order to 
exhibit to RuNJEET SiNGH, whose curiosity was much 
excited as to the formation and equipment of the various 
arms and corps of our military force, as much variety as 
possible. In marching the Europeans through the Sikh 
territory, the population was somewhat scandalized at as- 
certaining, that beef was killed in camp for their rations. 
The slaughter was made in the night, as secretly as pos- 
sible, still the fact transpired, and became matter of com- 
plaint from the Sikh Sirdars. The reply to them was, 
that it was no business of theirs to enquire what was 
done within the precincts of a British camp, that our 
customs prevailed there, and these could not be yielded 
to their scruples, though every care should be taken to 
prevent the obtrusion of any thing that was offensive. 
There is no doubt that the prejudices of the Sikhs were 
much outraged by the slaughter of oxen, but it would 
have been extremely bad policy to yield the point in this 
instance ; for were it conceded, and the necessity to arise 
hereafter of bringing a considerable force of Europeans 
into the country, similar concession would be expected 
when it would be impossible to grant it, and the popula- 
tion would be excited, from the want of previous know- 
ledge and preparation for the thing, as a necessary evil 
attendant on the march of Europeans, no less than by the 

w 



162 ARRIVAL AT ROOPUR. A. D. 1831. 

recollection, that heretofore the concession had been made 
to their religious feelings. 

The troops having arrived at Roopur, the Governor 
General, who had left Shimla on the 19th October^ and 
in descending took the opportunity of making an excur- 
sion in the Hills with few attendants, entered the camp 
on the evening of the 22d. Runjebt Singh came into 
his camp, on the opposite side of the Sntlej, on the 
morning of the 25th, escorted by 10,000 of his best horse, 
and about 6,000 trained infantry. He was immediately 
waited upon by a deputation from the Governor Gene- 
ral, headed by Major General Bamsay, brother to the 
Commander in Chief, Lord Dalhousie, and by his 
Lordship's Principal Secretary. KooNWUR Khurcjk 
Singh, with six principal Sirdars of the Sikhs, came at 
the same time to present the Muha-Raja's compliments 
to the Governor General. It was arranged, that Run- 
jeetSingh should visit the Governor General next 
day in the morning. 

As the time approached for the meeting, RuNJEEt 
Singh began to entertain apprehension, that some trea- 
chery or foul play must be designed : late over night, he 
sent to Monsieur Allard to say, that he should not 
attend the meeting of the morrow. Monsieur Allard 
waited upon him immediately, and exerted himself to 
remove these suspicions, and restore confidence, offering 
to stake his own head, that nothing would happen that 
was disagreeable. He left the Muha-Raja still irreso- 
lute, and the astrologers were summoned. They con- 
sulted the Grunth, and declared the result favorable, but 
told His Highness to take with him a couple of apples, 



A. D. 1831. FIRST MEETING* 163^ 

and to present them to the Governor General and to bis 
Secretary : if they were at once taken without demur, 
he was to consider it as a good omen, and might proceed 
in full assurance, that the result of the meeting would 
give him satisfaction. On the morning of the 26th Octo- 
ber, a deputation went to conduct the Muha-Raja to 
camp, and he started at sunrise. A bridge of the flat- 
bottomed ferry boats of the Sutiej had been constructed 
for the convenience of communication. Runjeet 
Singh made to cross over before him, 3000 of his best 
Gorchur cavalry, dressed in new yellow silk quilted 
coats, also about 800 of Monsieur Allard's dragoons ; 
he then took his breakfast of a highly spiced cordial, and 
sent over the chiefs he meant should attend on their 
elephants. This occupied some time, for the boats were 
fragile and would allow but few elephants to be on the 
bridge together. Lastly, His Highness passed over in per- 
son, and then, to prevent all confusion, ordered the guard 
at the bridge to permit none else from his camp to cross 
over. With the escort and attendance thus formed, the 
Sikh Chief crossed the open plain, at the further end of 
which lay the camp of the Governor General, from the 
centre of which a street was formed of the British troops 
collected. On reaching the end of the line, the Mq^a- 
Raja stopped to examine each corps, and put an infinity 
of questions as to their equipment, asking the use and 
cost of every strange article, that caught his eye. In 
the middle of the street he was met by the Governor 
General, and presented the apples, as enjoined by 
the astrologers : they were freely and at once taken. 
His Highness then crossed into the Governor Gene* 
raVs bouda, and the two Chiefs proceeded, together to 
the tents of audience that had been prepared. In an 

w 2 



164 CONDUCT OF RUNJEBT SINGH. A. D. 1881# 

outer tent, all the Enropean gentlemen were collected, 
and RuNJBET Singh was detained in it a short time, 
that several of them might be presented to him, standing, 
as he passed through. In a further tent chairs were laid 
out, and the Muha-Raja, with the chiefs of his nomina- 
tion, and some select officers of the suite, was led thither 
by the Governor General for a more private conference. 
It was amusing to see the pains taken by RuNJEBT 
Singh in the arrangement of his part of the ceremony. 
He waited at the door of the outer tent, and himself 
called, and told off, the chiefs that were to proceed to 
the inner, making them precede himself in order to 
prevent confusion or crowding. They were all like him- 
self dressed in yellow, that and light g^een being the 
favorite colours of his court, and called Busuntee, 
or the colours of spring. Some wore elegant highly 
polished armour, with scarfs of this colour, and the 
splendour of the attire of all was very striking. The 
inquisitive, and apparently frank manner of the Sikh 
Chief, made the conference pass off with more liveliness 
than is usual on such occasions of ceremony. Presents of 
every variety of manufactured stuffs, which had previous- 
ly been sent for, from Calcutta, Dacca, and Bunarus, 
with guns and jewels of value, a fine Burmese elephant, 
and two select thorough-bred young horses from the 
Hissar stud, were laid out, or passed in review before 
his Highness. Dresses of honor, and presents were 
also laid out for the heir-apparent, and other chiefs, 
according to a list obtained from his Highness. The 
Muha-Raja examined carefully every article of his own 
present, and then sent for the keeper of his wardrobe, 
and desired him to receive charge, and pack up the 
articles forthwith. He took his leave, apparently highly 



A. D. 1831* RETURN VISIT OF THE GOV. GENL. 165 

pleased with the interview, and at the door of the tent, 
called up, and paraded before the Governor General, his 
own favorite horses, telling the names, and merits of 
each. Again, as he passed through the street of troops, 
he stopped to examine the different corps, and his enqui- 
ries into every minute particular were renewed. It was 
noon, before he reached his own camp in returning. 

On the following day, the Governor General returned 
the visit, and was met at the bridge of boats by RuN- 
JEET Singh. His Lordship was escorted by the 
Lancers, who, with their mounted band, preceded the 
cavalcade. Runjeet Singh was much struck with 
their appearance, particularly with that of the Band; 
and, after they had crossed, and drawn up on the farther 
side of the river, he went up to them, and listened 
for some time to their playing, while the suite crossed. 
The Sikh troops formed line, from the bridge to the 
Muha-Raja's tents, which, consisting chiefly of Kundts 
and Shumeeanas, tastefully arranged, wereof red color, and 
covered a large space. The lining of all the Shumeeanas, 
under which the chairs were placed for the Governor 
General and his suite, was of shawl, beautifully worked, 
and that, under which sat the Governor General and His 
Highness himself, was a sheet of inlaid pearls and jewels 
of great value. The Muha-Raja, after the party were 
seated, introduced his chiefs in succession, and each as 
be came forward, presented Nuzurs of Dutch gold se- 
quins, both to his Highness and to the Governor Gene- 
ral. The horses were again brought forth, and exhi- 
bited in superb trappings, and after an hour passed in 
lively conversation, the presents for the Governor General 
were laid out, and His Lordship took bis' leave* 



106 ENTERTAINMENTS AND REVIEWS. A. O. 1831. 

Evening entertainments were afterwards excbangedp 
and reviews held of the troops collected on both sides. 
The Muha-Raja seemed particularly strnck with some of 
the evolutions exhibited before him by the British Re- 
giments, and sent his Sirdars up to the ranks, to examine 
particularly how they were executed. He himself also 
went up to the squares formed by the Infantry, to see 
how many ranks knelt, and how many kept up fire, show- 
ing in all things a most insatiable curiosity. 

On the 31st October, the last day of the interview, the 
Muha-Raja came across the river, to witness some artil- 
lery practice with grape and spherical-case shot. His 
astonishment at the effect on the curtain at different 
distances, from four hundred to one thousand paces, was 
extreme. After amusing himself afterwards with firing 
at a chutur, or umbrella, with one of the six pounders, 
and exhibiting feats of horsemanship, and dexterity, by 
his Sirdars, he was presented by the Governor Genend 
with two nine pounder horse artillery guns, with horses, 
and equipments complete. 

The evening of this day, was that of the parting ia- 
terview, which it was arranged was to take place at the 
entertainment given by the Governor General. At 
RuNJEET Singh's particular request, a paper was exe- 
cuted, and delivered to him on this occasion, promis- 
ing perpetual friendship from the British Government* 
A complete model of an iron suspension bridge, made 
up at Calcutta for the purpose, was also presented to his 
Highness, and excited his applause and admiration. On 
the following morning, viz. the 1st November 1831, both 
camps broke ground, and commenced their march in 



A. D. 1831. SINDH AFFAIRS. 167 

opposite directions, after a week of magnificence and 
mutual display, reminding one of the days of '* the field 
of cloth of Gold." 

No business of importance was transacted at this in- 
terview: RuNJEET Singh, however, invited the two 
ofiicers he thought most in the Governor General's con- 
fidence to his tent, and in the midst of much desultory 
conversation, pat to the ofiicial secretary, who was one 
of them, several questions in respect to Sindh, as if 
desirous to open a negociation, and concert measures, in 
relation to that state ; or at least to come to an understand- 
ing, as to the views of the British Government in respect 
to it. He said the vukeels of Sindh were in attendance 
in his camp, and he asked if he might introduce them to 
the Governor General. Upon being answered in the 
afiirmative, he added, that it was a very rich country, 
and much treasure had been accumulated there, ever 
since Nadir Shah's invasion of Hindoostan, that there 
was no standing army, and no soldiers, except the popu- 
lation at large, who would be called from the plough to 
take the field against an invading force. He then made al- 
lusion to the Meers having sent back Lieutenant BURNES, 
and to their general character for pride and haughtiness. 
It appeared evident that the Muha- Raja had learned, or 
at least suspected, that the British Government had some 
further views in respect to Sindh; also, that nothing 
would be more gratifying to him, than to be invited to 
co-operate in an attack upon that state. Notwithstand- 
ing however the desire thus shown, to come to an under- 
standing on the subject, it was not thought advisable to 
make any communication yet to the ruler of Lah6r ; for 
it was conceived, that, if made aware of the intentions of 



168 COL. POTTINGER*S MISSION TO SINDH. A. D. 1831. 

the British Government, he might, with every profession 
of a desire to forward them, contrive by intrigae and 
secret working to counteract the negociation. 

On the very day before His Highness arrived at Roo- 
pur, instructions had been issued to Lieutenant C(rfonel 
PoTTiNGER to prepare for amission to Sindh, with a 
view to the negociation of a commercial treatry, having 
for its object, to open the navigation of the Indus to the 
trade of Europe, and of India. The negociation was to 
be separate with each of the three independent Meers, 
but Colonel Potting ER was directed to proceed first 
to Hydurabad, to arrange with Mber Moorad Uleb, 
for a free passage for vessels, and merchandize, through 
the mouths, and Delta of this great river* The basis of 
the negociation was to be, to obtain guarantees against 
the levy of irregular duties, or wanton obstruction of any 
kind to boats and merchandize, to offer a guarantee against 
loss of revenue to the Sindh Government from the adop- 
tion of the scheme, and so to procure, that the river Indus 
should become again the channel for extensive commerce, 
and be frequented securely by the craft and vessels of 
all the adjoining districts, and even of Europe. The 
object of entering upon this negociation, at the particular 
juncture, was perhaps in some measure political, having 
reference to the necessity of being prepared against the 
possibility of designs on the part of Russia, should she 
succeed in establishing her influence in Persia. The 
Governor General, however, was not prepared to make 
any avowal or display of such motives, and a commercial 
treaty, stipulating for the free navigation of the river, 
seemed to him the better form in which to open relations 
with the Governments and Chiefs who occupied its banks. 



A. B. 1831 -32» REFLECTIONS. 169 

The main argument, however, against treaties of this 
description is their tendency to lead to embarrassing dis* 
cussions, and to produce irritation, and acrimonious feel- 
ings, while the views acted upon by the British Govern- 
ment are not properly understood by the Chiefs. The 
whole of Sindh is held in Jageers by Chiefs, who claim 
to be, and are de facto, independent, exercising almost 
sovereign authority in their respective domains. These 
Sirdars will not readily be brought to respect boats and 
merchandize, passing through their possessions, but 
detention will take place on the plea of examination, and 
presents will be expected, or forced purchases made, or 
obstructions of different kinds offered, the complaint 
against which, even if the assembly of Meers at Hydura- 
bad should be disposed to listen to such a complaint at 
all, must lead to long and irritating discussions, and yield 
little redress in the end. The perpetual residence of a 
British Agent, to take up the advocacy of such representa- 
tions, will be indispensable, and his doing so, will pro- 
duce continual bickering and discontent, and generate 
ill-will in those with whom he comes into collision. It 
is, however, most probable, that merchants will fear 
to incur the risk and trouble, incident to such adven-^ 
tures, and will thus allow the treaty to become a dead 
letter, like the commercial treaties already concluded 
with Siam and Cochin China, and even with the Burmese 
Court, where the British Governmefit has a Resident 
Envoy to look after the execution of the stipulations 
entered into. 

* The East India Company in its earlier commercial 
treaties appears to have acted on a different principle, 
the extension of its own trade, and the privileges of 

X 



170 REFLECTIONS. A. D. 1821*32. 

its own boats, vessels, and merchaDdise, beings the 
usual objects of stipalation and solicitude. lts*agi9Qt was 
on the spot to conduct the trade, and to see that the 
conditions were not riolated, and on this very footings 
the Company had formerly a commercial treaty with 
Sindh, which soon after the establishment of the Talpoor 
Meers, was put an end to by the rude expulsion of the 
British Agent. The revival of negooiation for a mere 
commercial treaty, with silence in respect to any Political 
object, appears calculated to produce an impression, 
that the Government still has a mercantile profit exclu- 
sively in view ; and such an understanding will neither 
elevate its character, nor add to its weight and influence, 
in guiding the counsels of the different chiefs with whom 
relations of the kind may be established. But, after all, 
the great objection to such a connexion seems to be, that 
it offers no impediment to the courts with whidi we enter 
into such relations, opening or continuing intrigues and 
direct negociations with the very states against which 
it may be desired to make preparation. At the very time 
of entering upon the negociation with Sindh, it was 
known, that an agent from Persia w^ at Hydurabad, 
offering a daughter of the king in marriage to the favorite 
son of Meer Moorad Ulee. If however the state of 
Sindh were allowed to connect itself in close relation 
with Persia, the commercial treaty we might conclude, 
would be no bar to the Russians insinuating themselves 
where the Persian court had paved the way for their 
influence. They might thus turn the resources of Sindh 
against us, or at least neutralize, or obstruct any advan- 
tage we might hope to derive from them, in the defence 
of the western frontier of India. If ever Hindoostfusi U 
invaded from the west, the battle must clearly be fought 



A. B. 1831-32. POTTINOER ARRIVES AT HYDURABAD. 17X 

tipoD the Indas, and it would be a failure of common 
foresight, were measures not taken to secure, that the 
chiefs, states, and tribes, upon its banks, should be 
unanimous and hearty in their exertions to repel the 
invader* It may be said, however, that the time is not 
come for making provision for such objects : but whether 
the danger be near, or remote, it would scarcely be 
consistent with prudence to engage in measures likely to 
produce alienation, or to lower the respect and influence, 
which as holders in declared and full sovereignty of the 
principal part of Hindoostan, the British Government 
ought naturally to possess with the remainder. 

Colonel PoTTiNGER, on receipt of his instructions, sent 
immediate intimation to the Meers of Sindh, and in par- 
ticular to Meer Moorad Ulbe at Hydnrabad, of his 
being commissioned by the Governor Greneral to confer 
with them on some important matters, and he requested 
the requisite permission to proceed to Hydurabad for 
the purpose. This having been granted, after some 
demur, and the Bombay Government having provided 
the necessary escort, establishment, and equipment far 
the Envoy of the Supreme Government, Colonel Pot- 
ting ER moved from Kuchh, and arrived at Hydura- 
bad in the course of February, 1633. He immediately 
explained the views of the British Government, and 
delivered the letter from the Grovernor General to MfiSfl 
MooRAD Ulbe, in which they were stated at length. 
A series of long and tedious discussions was then com- 
menced, during which several projects and counter- 
projects, and drafts of treaties, were mutually exchanged. 
After much negociation, a Treaty was at last concluded 
with Meer Moorad Ulbe Khan, on the part of thie 

X 2 



■lAAAAAAMflflMMMi 



172 TRBATY WITH SINDH. A. B. 1832. 

assembled Chiefs at Hydurabad, on the 20th April 1882, 
corresponding with which, the following Engagement was 
executed by the Governor General at Shimla on the 19(h 
Jane following. 



** A Treaty, consisting of seven Articles, having been 
*' concluded on the lOth Zeehij 1247 A. H. corresponding 
'' with 20th April 1832, between The Honorable East 
** India Company and His Highness Mebr Moor ad 
" Ali Khan Talpoor Buhadoor, Baler of Hydnrabad 
*' in Sindh, through the Agency of Lieutenant-Colonel 
" Henry Potting er. Envoy on the part of the British 
" Government, acting nnder the authority vested in him 
'* by the Right Honorable Lord William Cavendish 
** Bentinck, g. c. b. and g. c. h., Governor General 
*^ of the British Possessions in India, this Engagement 
*' has been given in writing at Shimla, this day, the 19tb 
** June 1832, both in English and Persian, in token of 
" the perfect confirmation and acknowledgment of the 
** obligations which it contains, in the manner following : 

Article I. ** That the friendship provided for in for- 
** mer Treaties, between the British Government and 
" that of Sindh remain unimpaired and binding, and that 

this stipulation has received additional efficacy through 

the medium of Lieutenant-Colonel Pottinger, Envoy, 
'' &c. so that the firm connection and close alliance now 
*' formed between the said States shall descend to the 
*' Children and Successors of the House of the above 
*' named Meer Moorad Ali Khan, principal after 
*' principal, from generation to generation. 

Article II. '' That the two Contracting Powers bind 
" themselves never to look with the eye of covetoasness 
** on the possessions of each other* 



€4 



A. D. 1832. TREATY WITH SlNDH. 173 

Article III. '* That the British Government has 
^ requested a passage for the merchants and traders of 
" Hindostan, by the river and roads of Sindh, by 
" which they may transport their goods and merchan- 
** dize from one country to another^ and the said Govern- 
'' ment of Hydurabad hereby acquiesces in the same 
'' request on the three following conditions : 
1st. '^ That no person shall bring any description of 

** Military Stores by the above river or roads. 
2d. " That no armed vessels or boats shall come by the 

" said river. 
3d. ** That no English merchants shall be allowed to 
" settle in Sindh, but shall come as occasion 
** requires, and having stopped to transact their 
** business, shall return to India. 
Article IV. " When merchants shall determine on 
** visiting Sindh, they shall obtain a passport to do so 
" from the British Government, and due intimation of 
'* the granting of such passports shall be made to thd 
** said Government of Hydurabad, by the Resident i^ 
^' Kutch or other Officer of the said British Government. 
Article V. " That the Government of Hydurabad 
** having fixed certain, proper, and moderate dutieid td 
** be levied on merchandize and goods proceeding by the 
** aforesaid routes, shall adhere to that scale, and not 
'' arbitrarily and despotically either encrease or lessen 
** the same, so that the aflfairs of merchants and traders 
" may be carried on without stop or interruption, and 
** the custom-house officers and farmers of revenue 
** of the Sindh Government, are to be especially directed 
'< to see that they do not delay the said merchants, on 
*' pretence of awaiting for fresh orders from the Govern- 
" ment, or in the collection of the duties ; and the said 



174 TREATY WITH SINDH. A* D. 1833. 

*' Government is to promnlgate a Tariff, or taUe of 
*^ duties leviable on each kind of goods, as the oase 
•' may be.'* 

Article VI. " That whatever portions of former 
** Treaties entered into between the two States which 
** have not been altered and modified by the present one, 
remain firm and unaltered, as well as those stipulations 
now concluded, and by the blessing of God, no devia- 
tion from them shall ever happen." 
Article VII. ** That the friendly intercourse between 
*' the two States shall be kept up by the dispatch of 
'' Vakeels whenever the transaction of business, or the 
'' encrease of the relations of friendship may render it 
" desirable." 






The following Supplemental Engagement toas also 
concluded with Meer Moor ad Ulee Khan>^ 

** The following Articles of Engagement having been 
** agreed on, and settled on the22d April, 1832, between 
** the Hon'ble East India Company and his Highness 
'' Meer Moor ad Ali Khan Talpoor Buhadoor, 
** Ruler of Hydurabad, in Sindh, as supplemental to the 
<< Treaty concluded on the 20th April 1^, through ihe 
" Agency of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Pottinger, 
«< Envoy on the part of the said Hon'ble East India 
*^ Company, under full power and authority vested in him 
" by the Right Hon'ble Lord William Cavendish 
" Bentinck, g. c. b. and g. c. h.. Governor General 
** of the British Possessions in India : this Eng^ement 
" has been given in writing at Shimla, this day, the 19th 
** June 1832, both in English and Persian, in token of 
'' the perfect confirmation and acknowledgment of the 
** obligations which it contains, in the manner following : 



A. D. 1832. TREATY WITH SINDH. 175 

Article I. ** It is inserted in the Vth Article of the 
"perpetual Treaty, that the Government of Hydurabad 
** will furnish the British Government with a statement 
*' of duties, &c. and after that, the Officers of the British 
** Government, who are versed in affairs of traffic, 
" will examine the said statement. Should the state- 
" ment seem to them to be fair and equitable, and agreea- 
" ble to custom, it will be brought into operation, and 
" will be confirmed, but should it appear too high. His 
'' Highness M£ER Moorad Ali Khan, on hearing 
*' from the British Government to this effect through 
" Colonel Potting BR, will reduce the said duties. 

Article II. *' It is clear as noon-day, that the punish- 
** ment and suppression of the plunderers of Parkhnr, the 
" Thull, &c. is not to be effected by any oneGovemment, 
** and as this measure is incumbent on, and becoming the 
'^ States, as tending to secure the welfare and happiness 
" of their respective subjects and countries, it is hereby 
'* stipulated, that on the commencement of the ensuing 
" rainy season, and of which Mbbr Moorad Ali 
" Khan shall give due notice, the British, Sindh, and 
^* Jodhpoor Governments shall direct their joint and 
'^ simultaneous efforts to the above object. 

Article III. ** The Governments of the Honorable 
*' East India Company and of Khyrpoor, namely, 
** Meer Roostum, have provided in a treaty conclud- 
** ed between the States, that whatever may be settled 
" regarding the opening of the Indus at Hydurabad 
** shall be binding on the said contracting powers. It 
" is, therefore, necessary that copies of the Treaty should 
" be sent by the British and Hydurabad Governments 
" to Mber Roostum Khan for his satisfaction and 
** guidance." 



176 TREATY WITH SINDH. A. O. ia32» 

It deserves to be noticed that neither of the above trea- 
ties was definitively settled, until the Chief of Kbjrpoor 
had already entered into an engagement with the British 
Government. The jealousy, indeed, that was felt at this 
proceeding, and the fear lest the Khyrpoor Chief shoald 
be severed for ever from the association of Talpoor Meers, 
were mainly instrumental in bringing Meer Moorad 
to sign. The engagement with Meer Roostum Khapt 
was to the following effect : 

** A Treaty, consisting of 4 Articles, having been con- 
** claded on the 2d Zeekad 1247, A. H«, corrrespond- 
" ing with the 4th April, 1832, between the Hon'ble 
" East India Company and Meer Roostum Khan, 
" Talpoor Buhadoor, Chiefof Khyrpoor in Sindh, through 
*' the Agency of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Pottin. 
'' GER, Envoy on the part of the British Government 
" acting under the authority vested in him by the Right 
" Hon'ble Lord William Cavendish Bentinck, 
*^ 6. c. B. and G. c. H., Governor General of the British 
" possessions in India, this engagement has been given 
** in writing at Shimla, this day, the 19th June 1832, 
'' both in English and Persian, in token of the perfect 
*^ confirmation and acknowledgment of the obligations 
'' it contains in the manner following: 

Article I. ^' There shall be eternal friendship between 
" the two States. 

Article II. ** The two Contracting Powers mutually 
** bind themselves from generation to generation never to 
'^ look with the eye of covetousness on the possessions of 
'* each other. 

Article III. " The British Government having re- 
•* quested the use of the River Indus and the roads of 
•• Sindh for the Merchants of Hindoostan, &c, the 



A. D. 1832. TREATY WITH KHYRPOOR. 177 

" Government of Khyrpoor agrees to grant the same 
** within its own boundaries, on whatever terms may be 

settled with the Government of Hydarabad, namely, 

Meer Moorad Ali Khan, Talpoor. 

Article IV. " The Government of Khyrpoor agrees 

to furnish a written statement of jast and reasonable 
' duties to be levied on all goods passing under this 
' Treaty, and further promises, that traders shall suffer 
' no let or hindrance in transacting their business." 



44 
44 

44 



CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 



JTie character and policy ofRuryeet Singh. His revenues* 
Strength of his army. General observations. 

JLHB personal character of the present ruler of Lah6r 
and that of his government will best have been gathered, 
from the perusal of bis acts, as related in the preceding 
Chapters ; nevertheless it may be useful to sum up the 
result, and to explain the present condition of his terri- 
tory, its resources, and the military means at this Chief's 
command. 

It has before been stated, that Bunjeet Singh had 
no education in any branch of learning or science. Be 
cannot read or write in any language, but the habit of 
hearing papers read in Persian, Punjabee, and Hindee, 
and great assiduity in his attention, even to the minutiae of 
business, have given him a facility in following, and un- 
derstanding for the most part what is so submitted to 
him : so that, although quite unable to appreciate elegan- 
cies of style, or to dictate verbatim what should be writ- 
ten, he transacts business rapidly, is ready with a short and 
decided order upon any report or representation read to 
him, and when the draft of his instruction is submitted, 
after being prepared in due form; he sees at once whether 



CHARACTER OF RUNJEET SINGH. 179 

it fally meets his view. Confidential secretaries are per- 
petually in attendance, and are frequently called up ia 
the night, to expedite orders, as the sudden recollection, 
or caprice of the Muha-Raja, suggests the issuing of them. 
His memory is excellent, and stored with minute, as 
well as important circumstances. His disposition is at 
the same time watchful, and his eye quick and search- 
ing, so that nothing escapes his observation ; while the 
perspicacity displayed in his appreciation of character, 
and in tracing the motives of other's actions, gives him 
a command and influence over all that approach him, 
which have been mainly instrumental to his rapid rise. 
With great acuteness, he has a lively imagination ; and 
though never for an instant forgetful of any ends he may 
have in view, there is a frankness and naivete about his 
conversation, peculiarly agreeable. His observations 
and remarks are given ordinarily in short, terse, incohe- 
rent phrase, or in the shape of interrogatories, but they 
are such, as remain fixed in the recollection of the person 
to whom they are addressed, as uncommon, and as dis- 
playing an original thinker. He has great power of dis- 
simulation, and, under the greatest frankness of manner, 
and even familiarity in his intercourse, csm veil subtle 
designs, and even treachery. In action he has always 
shown himself personally brave, and collected, but his 
plans betray no boldness or adventurous hazard. Ad- 
dress, and cunning, nay, even corruption, have always 
been preferred by him, as instruments of success, to any 
dash of enterprize, calculated to excite admiration or 
inspire awe. His fertility in expedients is wonderful, 
and he is never at a loss for a resource in the greatest 
difficulties, but many of his actions evince caprice, and 
even instability of purpose, for the motive of them cannot 

Y 2 



180 CHARACTER OF RUNJBET 8IN6H* 

be traced or imagined. His uniform condact and career 
through life, prove him to be selfish^ sensual, and licentious 
in the extreme; disregardfulof all ties of affection, bloody 
or friendship in the pursuit of ambition, or pleasure; and 
profligately greedy— plundering and reducing to misery 
without the slightest feeling, or remorse, widows, orphans 
and families possessing claims to consideration and 
respect, that one wonders should not have been recogni:&^ 
ed, even if it were only from policy. In his youth he 
was lavish in his gifts to favorites, and there was libera- 
lity in his general dealings, but, as age has come over 
him, avarice, and the desire of hoarding, have becon^e the 
ruling passions, and he is approached, even by his confi. 
dential officers and those in favor, with more apprehen- 
sion of robbery and exaction from themselves, than df 
hope to add to their accumulated means through his indul* 
gence. His temper was in youth excellent, and always 
under command, but the irritability of an impaired con-^ 
stitution frequently now overpowers him, and he has been 
known to break out into fits of passion, and to descend to 
use personal violence towards the objects of his rage ; 
but, withal, there is no ferocity in his disposition, and be 
has never taken life, even under circumstances of aggra* 
vated offence. 

His stature is low, and the loss of an eye from- the 
small pox takes away much from his appearance, which 
however is still far from being unprepossessing, for his 
countenance is full of expression and animation, and is set 
off with a handsome flowing beard, grey at 50 years of 
age, but tapering to a point below his breast. In his 
youth he must have had much vigour and activity, but he 
is now so emaciated, and weak, as to b^ compelled ^to 



CHARACTER OF RUNJEET SINCH. 181 

Udopt a singular method of mounting the tall horses, on 
which he loves to ride. A man kneels down before him» 
and he throws his leg over his neck, when the man rises 
with the Muha-Raja mounted on his shoulders: he then 
approaches the horse, and Runjeet Singh, putting his 
right foot into the stirrup, and holding by the mane, 
throws his left over the man's head, and the back of the 
horse, into the stirrup on the other side. His love of bis 
horses is extreme, and has been already several times 
inentioned. He has them continually in his sight, cover- 
ed with jewels and rich caparisons, and they are the 
objects of his frequent caresses. He is himself plain and 
simple in dress, and quite unreserved in all his habits ; 
and his diet consists of high stimulants of which he par* 
takes sparingly. He has great delight however in mili* 
tary parade, and display, and spends nearly the half of 
every day in seeing reviews, or examining equipments, or 
in some way studying to promote the efficiency of some 
branch of his army. He also seems to take pleasure in 
seeing his courtiers and establishments decorated in jew- 
els and handsome dresses, and it is not to be denied, that 
they show considerable taste, for the splendour of the 
display of his Durbar is very striking. Although no 
bigot, and active in restraining the zeal and fanaticism of 
the Akalees, and others, Runjeet Singh is yet scru- 
pulous in the performance of all the prescribed observ- 
ances of the Sikh faith, and, for a certain number of hours 
every day, has the Grunth read before him by Grooroos, 
and is liberal in his charities to Fuqeers and men of re* 
puted sanctity. He is indeed superstitious in the extreme^ 
readily conceiving fancies in respect to his destiny, and 
fortunes, and never failing to consult astrologers before 
entering upon any important ondertakiDg, 



18!? CHARACTER OF RUNJEET SINGH, 

: With respect to the policy and internal Governmeat of 
RUNJEBT Singh, the most remarkable featare is, thd 
entire absence of any thing like system, or principle in 
his management His career thronghont has been that of 
an encroaching nsnrper, and seizor of all within his reach, 
bat what he has so possessed himself of, he subjects to no 
systematic administration. The whole is committed to 
&rmers, with full power to deal with the lives and pnn 
perties of the producing classes of the population. Run* 
J BET Singh trusting to his own military means, for the 
control of these farmers, and for the exaction from them 
of any extra gains he may learn that they have made. 
Nevertheless his extortions are directed chiefly against 
the old Sikh families, and his own state officers: mer- 
chants and traders are protected, and the duties and 
taxes, to which they are subjected, are not for the most 
part immoderate. Runjebt Singh has however shown 
a disposition himself to become a dealer in some articleis, 
as in shawls, salt, &c. and all that he touches becomes of 
course monopoly, or in some other shape the source of 
exaction and corrupt gain. 

It cannot be said, that Runjeet Singh has yet given 
to the Punjab any constitution or fixed form of Govern- 
ment. There is no law, written or oral, and no courts 
of justice have been any where established. The Gooroo* 
Mata, or old council of the Sikhs, has, with every other 
institution adapted to the state of things which existed 
before the establishment of the supremacy of the present 
ruler, been entirely discontinued. The last council of thf 
kind was held, when Holkur fled into the Punjab,^ and 
the British armies followed in pursuit, and it was a qnes^ 
tion what part the Sikhs as a nation should take in the 



AND OF HIS <50VERNMENT. 188 

jancture. RuNJEfiT Singh> though the most influential 

chief, pretended not then to any supremacy of dominion^ 

and the question was one, which, as it concerned the whole 

body of the Sikhs, required that all should have a yoice 

in determining. At present the Government appears to 

be a pure despotism, the standing army, ever ready for 

active service, and eager to be employed where plunder 

and exaction are the objects, forms the whole machinery 

of administration. By it only the treasury is filled, and 

control exercised over state officers, powerful subjects, and 

indeed over every class of the population. The personal 

influence, and verbal orders of the head of the state, form 

again the exclusive hold upon the discipline and affec^ 

tions of the troops. Thus the whole power and authority 

centres in the single individual, whom fortune, and his 

own abilities have placed at the head of affairs ; and} 

upon his being removed from the scene, unless there be 

another to fill his place, with equal energy, and command 

over the attachment and affections of his dependents^ 

which, it is to be feared, is not the character of KhUt 

RUK Singh, every thing must necessarily fall into con* 

fusion. 

The territorial possessions of RuNJBET SiKGH, com- 
prize now the entire fork of the Punjab, as bounded by 
the Indus and Sutlej, the two extreme rivers. He holds 
besides Kashmeer, and the entire hill country to the 
snowy range, and even Ludak beyond the Heemalaya : for 
though many of the Rajas of this tract still remain in their 
possessions, they have been reduced to the character of 
subjects, paying tribute equal to their utmost means, and 
contributing men to the armies of Lahdr, whenever called 
upon. Besides this extensive territory, RuNj bet Singh 



184 REVENUES OF RUNJEET SINGH. 

has abont 45TaIook8 entire, or in share with 
others, on the British side of the Satlej ; 
and westward of the Indus, he holds Khyra- 
bad, Akona, and Peshawar, Darra-Ghazee- 
Khan, which has been farmed to the Nuwab 
of Buhawulpoor, and Dnrra-Ismaeel-Khan, 
assigned to Hafiz Ahmed Khan of 
Mankera, as before related. He also levies 
tributes from the Balooch Chiefs of Tonk 
and Sagur to the southward. Captain Mur- 
ray estimates that the amount of Land 
Revenue and Tributes, annually levied from Rupees. 
the whole of these possessions, is 1,SI4,03,900 

Besides which, the Customs of the Punjab 
yield to Run j eet Singh, 19,00,^M> 

An Item, called Mohurana, being a Fee 
on every paper submitted for the Seal of 
Runjeet Singh, 5,77,000 

Making a total Khalsa Revenue of 1,48^1,500 

The same Officer estimates that there 
remains, still appropriated in Jageers, or 
held by old Sikh families, and establishments, 
without paying any thing to the Khalsa, 
territory yielding, 1,09,28,000 

Thus making the entire resources of the 
country under the dominion of Runj eet, Rs. 2,58,09,500 

This total is not very wide of the revenue set down in 
the books of the Moghul Government, as the produce of 



REVENUBS OF RUNJBET SINGH. 185 

Uie Lab6r Sooba; and, consideriDg that Kashmeer, and 
some territory south of the Satlej is incladed^ the corres- 
pondence of amount is in favor of the correctness of the 
estimate, for the province cannot be so productive under 
the Sikhs, as it was in the peaceable times of the Moghul 
dominion. 

Run J BET Singh has for many years been hoarding 
treasure, and the fort of Govindgurh, built by him, and 
kept always in excellent repair, is the principal place for 
its deposit. Captain Murray, speaking from, the best 
information he could collect, which, however, was neces- 
sarily very imperfect, and vague, estimates the value of 
the property accumulated by RuNJEBT Singh in cash, 
jewels, horses, and elephants, to be not less than ten 
crores of rupees, or the same number of millions of 
pounds sterling. By some the estimate is carried much 
higher, but such computations, being for the most part 
conjectural, err generally on the side of excess. 

The military force of the Lahdr State is set down by 
the same officer, and his authority is the safest to follow 
on the point, as follows : 

Ist. The available regular troops, 

Cavalry disciplined by Monsieur Al- 
LARD, and the special troops mounted 
on horses of the State, the Gorchur, Men. 
and Gorchur Khas, •••• 12,811 

Infantry, Disciplined Battalions, 
Ncyeebs, and troops, more or less drill- 
ed under the eye of the Muha-Bsga, • . 14,941 



186 MILITARY FORCES OF RUNJEET SINGH. 

Total regular troops, horse and foot, 27J!75ll 

Garrison corps, inclading the troops 
employed in Kashmeer, — Cavalry, . . • 3000 

Infantry, variously armed and 
equipped, 23,950 26,950 



^ 



Contingents of Sirdars, consisting, 
in the plains, principally of cavalry, 
but in the hills of foot soldiers, 27,312 

Total troops, horse and foot, 82,014 

The artillery of Runjeet Singh consists of 376 
guns, and 370 swivels, mounted on the backs of camels, 
or on light carriages adapted to th^r size. For 
these, there is no corps of artillery regimented, and 
organized, as is the custom in European armies, but 
there is a Darogha, at the head of a large establishment^ 
which if Runjeet Singh were making preparation for a 
siege, could not be set down at less than 4 or 5000 men ; but 
in time of peace, or when no such operation was in agita- 
tion, the number would be infinitely reduced. Several 
of the corps of cavalry, and all the battalions of infantry^ 
have guns attached to them, the gunners of which are 
borne on the strength of the respective corps. The 
Jinsee, or heavy train only, is distinct from the rest of 
the army. 

The above accumulation of resources, and of force^ 
has grown up, and been produced entirely by the care 
and exertions of the Muha-Raja. His father left him 
nothing, but a body of Sikh cavalry, little superior ^to 
that of his neighbours; who have all now been reduced 



REFLECTIONS. 187 

to the condition of subjects. RuNJEET SiNGH has, in 
the formation especially of his military force, evinced the 
same enquiring activity, the same attention to minutiae, 
and perseverance in watching the execution of his 
plans, which characterized the first Peter of Russia; 
and, compared with all that we see and hear of other 
chiefs who have raised themselves to high dominion, he 
ranks amongst those, whose means have been the least 
exceptionable, his career being stained by no bloody 
executions, and by much fewer crimes, than are chargeable 
against most founders of dynasties. The want of a gene- 
ralizing mind, to refer things to fixed principles, and to 
lead to the formation or adoption of systems, and a 
deficiency of the intelligence resulting from education, 
or from habitual converse with men of high cultivation, 
have been the main defects of his character, and are the 
causes of Runjeet Singh's Government being based 
on no solid forms, and institutions, which can be reckoned 
upon to carry on the machine, when the present regu- 
lator of all is removed from the scene. But where were 
such to be found amongst an association of Sikh banditti^ 
formed from the outcasts of society, and from the dregs 
in particular of the agricultural class, men all in most 
desperate circumstances and driven by want to adopt 
the life of robbers? All that was educated, and refined, 
had disappeared from the Punjab, before Run J BET 
Singh was born. The natural effect however of the 
union of authority in his person, has been, to create a 
court, where, in the course oftime, science and refinement 
will be reproduced, or collected from the countries 
around, as the habits of peace and luxury, come to super- 
cede the bustle, and perpetual activity of war and mili- 
tary expeditions. 

z 2 



188 GENERAL REFLECTIONS. 

And let not those, who are disposied to give to RlTN« 
JEET Singh the credit dae to him as foander of a kiagu 
dom and dynasty, take exception at the circamscribed 
limit of his dominion, as lowering his merit in comparison 
with others. The circumstances of iiis position, with the 
British Government on one side, — fresh risen to a majes- 
ty of power, that it would have been madness for him to 
think of encountering, and with the prejudiced and fanatic 
Moosnlman population of Afghanistan upon every other 
frontier, have been barriers against extension, which it 
was impossible to overcome, and effectually forbad the 
hope of carrying the Sikh dominion beyond its present 
limits. The gain that has already been made upon the 
latter, and the manner in which the brave and bigotted 
Mohummedans, have, in many instances, been reconciled 
to the sway of a hated, and even despised sect, are 
amongst the most creditable features of the policy, and 
career of Run j bet Singh. 

Towards the British Government his conduct has been 
marked with equal sagacity. Careful not to offend to the 
point leading to actual rupture, he contrived to make his 
gain of the juncture, at the very moment when the British 
Government stept forward to confine his dominion to the 
Sutlej, and to wrest from his grasp, the valuable tract 
between that river and the Jumna, which was all held 
by Sikhs, and regarded by him therefore as his legitimate 
and certain prey. When the ill-will and suspicion, 
engendered by this interference, had subsided, and he 
felt assured that the interposing Government had no 
desire to push its conquests, or further to interfere with 
his ambitious views, he cultivated the friendship of its 
officers, and has since desired to exhibit himself to the 



GENERAL REFLECTIONS. 189 

world as anited by close relations, and on the bestnnder^ 
standing with it. He seems to be now thoroughly con- 
vinced, that its friendship, and engagements may be 
relied upon, and there cannot be a doubt, that if ever the 
occasion should arise, to render it necessary to make pre- 
paration against invasion from the west, he would side 
heartily with us, and show zeal in repelling the invader. 
His professions, his interest, and his inclinations, are all 
for us at present, and he derives no little strength and 
security, from giving it out, that he is on such terms with 
the British nation. 

Having thus conducted the reader, in the foregoing 
pages, through the gradations by which the Sikh power 
has been raised to its present flourishing and imposing 
condition, it remains to lay before him some insight into 
the habits and manners peculiar to this sect, to enable 
him to appreciate the character of the nation, and the 
peculiar traits which distinguish it from the rest of the 
population of Hindoostan. This has been amply done 
to hand by Captain MURRAY, who has collected, in an 
Appendix to the report he laid before Lord William 
Bentinck, the result of his own observations, during 
a residence of more than fifteen years amongst the Sikhs, 
attended with hourly intercourse with individuals of all 
classes, added to the necessity of listening, to represen- 
tations of all descriptions, with a view to the arbitration 
or adjustment of their disputes. Captain Murray's 
remarks and the facts he has collected, though put toge- 
ther without much regard to arrangement, and evidently 
with no view to publication, are nevertheless so replete 
with useful information and intelligence, that to withhold 
them would be unpardonable. On the other hand, the 



190 CONCLUSION. 

weight of the authority would be lost if they were to be 
recast and combined into a more studied form by another 
hand. It is proposed, therefore, to conclude this little 
volume, by the transfer verbatim into it of the Appendix, 
devoted by this oflScer to the delineation of ** the Man- 
ners, Rules, and Customs of the Sikhs." The canons 
reader will be well repaid the labour of a perusal. 



192 APPENDIX. 

fraud, and perjary are the natural concomitants of sach 
a mode of condacting affairs. Money^ fear, and favor, 
can purchase an oath, can determine a village boun- 
dary dispute, and screen a criminal from detection, and 
the infliction of punishment. In some instances an 
accused person will call for the Dibb^ or ordeal of inno- 
cence, plunge his fingers in boiling oil, bear a heated 
ploughshare on his hands for 50 to 100 yards, challenge 
his accuser to the trial by water, and, if he escape unhurt, 
his purity is declared, and freely acknowledged. 

Witchcraft and spells, (Jadoo and Moot), have a pow- 
erful influence over the fancies and actions of the Chiefs 
and other inhabitants of the Sikh States. A sudden indis- 
position, a vomiting of blood, or any unusual ailment, 
for the nature and cause of which a native cannot very 
readily account, are generally attributed to the malice 
and invention of a rival, or to an evil disposed member 
of the family. The possession of a waxen or dough 
eflSgy, some party-colored threads, and small human bones 
discovered in the dwelling, or about the person of a sus- 
pected individual, are convincing proofs of guilt and 
wickedness.'*^ 



* '* The harmless flame, which insensibly," says Gibbon, '^ melted a 
waxen image, might derive a powerful and pernicious energy from the 
afirighted fancy of the person whom it was maliciously designed to 
represent." One of the reasons Raja Juswunt Singh of Nabah, assign- 
ed for his wish to disinherit his eldest son and heir was, that he had been 
engaged in some mischievous practises, and destructive enchantments, 
with one Bhaee Dighanoo, to ruin the health of his father. Sirdar 
Bhoop Singh of Roopur, advanced a similar charge against hid nncle 
Darwa Singh. Both these Chiefs bear the character of being well 
informed men, and wiser than their neighbours. Rutun Koonwur, the 
widow of MuHTAB Singh, Chief of Thanesur, adopted a sickly boy, to 
whom she became immoderately attached, and vainly hoped he might bf 



APPENDIX — SUPERSTITIONS. 193 

Good and bad omens,'^ lucky and unlucky days^ and 
particular hours of the day and night for commencing a 
journey and returning home^ are carefully observed by 
the Sikhs, and by all other classes in the Punjab, whether 
engaged in the most momentous enterprizes, or in the 
common concerns of life. Prior to the field being taken 
with an army,t a visit of ceremony being paid to a dis^ 
tant friend, or a pilgrimage heiog made, the Muhoorut, 
or auspicious moment for departure, and return, must be 

admitted to succeed to the laaded property she held for life. In 1828, the 
boy died, and Ruttun Koonwur, in a paroxism of grief, filed a formal 
complaint, charging his death, through magical arts, to her nephew 
JuMERUT Singh, producing in Court some body clothes, and on no better 
evidence directing her Vakeel to prosecute him for murder. The case 
was set at rest by reasoning on its absurdity, and Rutun Koonwur 
consoled herself by the adoption of another boy. In September 1829, a 
Thanadar of the Thanesur Ranee, hanged a Brahmin suspected of magic. 
The Ranee dismissed the Thanadar from his situation. 

* To hear a partridge call on your right hand as you enter a town<« 
cranes passing from left to right—meeting a bareheaded person— a 
jackass braying as you enter a town or yillage— a dog shaking his head 
and ears on quitting home— to meet a corpse or a Brahmin— to hear a 
female jackall howling during the night— sneezing on going out or com- 
ing into a house or room, &c. &c. are bad omens. The contrary are good 
omens. To hear a partridge call on your left — cranes passing from right 
to left— to meet a Mehtur or Sweeper— to behold pearls in your sleep. If 
a Moosulman dream of seeing the moon, it is as good as an intertiew with 
the Prophet, Sfc. ^c— An eminent Native Merchant came to me on business 
from Umritsur, and died at Loodeeana, of the Cholera Morbus. His 
followers very gravely told me that my remedies must be unavailing, for 
on entering the town, many bare-headed men of the Goojur cast had 
been met by the deceased. 

t A gang of burglars being brought before me in 1819, admitted in 
evidence, that two pieces of coloured muslin had been tossed over their 
left shoulders, on hearing a jackall call on their right hand, soon after 
quitting Kurnal, where the burglary had been perpetrated. Dessa-Sool, 
or unlucky day s— Saturday and Monday, to the east— Sunday and Friday, 
to the west— Tuesday and Wednesday, to the north, and Thursday to 
the south. The contrary are Siddh J6g, or lucky days. 

2a 



194 APPENDIX— SUPERSTITIONS. 

predicted by a Pandit^ and the Pandit on his part is 
guided by the jogtne or spirits ; which pervade every 
quarter of the compass. To avert the pernicioas conse- 
quences likely to ensue from unfavorably prognostics or 
dreams, charity is recommended, and in general given 
very freely on such occasions, by natives of rank and 
wealth. These, and many hundred other absurd pre- 
judices and superstitious notions, are carried into the 
most solemn affairs of state. It is no uncommon practise 
of Run J BET Singh, when he contemplates any serioi^ 
undertaking, to direct two slips of paper to be placed 
on the Grunth Sohil, or sacred volume of the Sikhs. On 
the one is written his wish, and on the other the reverse. 
A little boy is then brought in, and told to bring one of 
the slips, and, whichever it may happen to be, his High- 
ness is as satis&ed as if it were a voice from heaven. 
A knowledge of these whims, and prepossessions, is 
useful and necessary. They obtain, under varied shapes, 
and in diversified shades, throughout the Eastern world, 
warping the opinions, and directing the public and pri- 
vate affairs of all ranks in society, from he despot to the 
peasant, from the soldier in the battle-field, to the crimi- 
nal at the tree of execution. It must be a pleasing duty 
to every public servant to endeavour to gain the confi- 
dence, and win the affections of the Chiefs and people 

* When the Surhind Division, composed entirely 'of Sipahees, WM 
directed, under the command of Sir David Ochterlony, againit t|i0 
Goorkha power in 1814, it V7as suggested by Nund Singh, the accredited 
agent of Rdnjeet Singh, that the first march should be made at the 
Dusehra. It being mentioned to him, that this was too early, he beg- 
ged that the tents and a few men might move out on that day. He 
was gratified, and the success that attended this Division in all its opera- 
tions, was attributed more to the choice of an auspicious hour, than 
to the wisdom, prudence, and gallantry of its commander, his officers, 
and men. 



APPENDIX— JUSTICE. 195 

of a conquered country, by the impression of his acquaint- 
ance with, and seeming regard to their peculiarities and 
propensities, and in the superintendence and manage- 
ment of their concerns, to know the bents by which he 
may seize and work upon them. To totich upon such 
feelings without giving offence, demands on all occa- 
sions, the exercise of discretion, temper, and judgment : 
but when successfully done, ft is easy by a kindly manner 
and persuasive address, to lead the misguided and 
ignorant from error and antiquated usages, to appreciate 
the advantages attendant on intellectual improvement, 
and the benefits resulting from science and moral feeling. 

In the Sikh States, the administration of civil and cri* 
minal justice is vested in the Sirdar, or chief. Crimes 
and trespasses, as in the middle ages, are atoned for by 
money : the fines are unlimited by any rule, and generally 
levied arbitrarily according to the means of the offender, 
whose property is attached, and his family placed under 
restraint to enforce payment. These amerciaments form 
a branch of revenue to the chief, and a fruitful source 
of peculation to his officers, who too frequently have 
recourse to the most harsh and cruel means to elicit 
confessions, and extort money for real or imaginary 
ofiences. He who gains his point, pays his Shookurana, 
or present of gratitude, and he who is cast, pays his 
Jureemana, or penalty. The wealthy may secure jus- 
tice, but the indigent are likely to obtain something less. 
The larger the bribe the more chance of success. A case 
where the right is clear and undeniable, is often allowed 
to lie over, that the present may be augmented. All 
officers under the chief, and employed by him in districts 
and departments, follow his example ; but are ultimately 

2 A 2 



196 APPENDIX — CRIMES. 

thrown into a bora, or dnngeon, and required to refnnd, 
and when they have satisfied the cupidity of their supe- 
rior, they are generally permitted to resame their fane* 
tions, honored with the shawl as a mark of favor. Capi- 
tal punishment is very seldom inflicted. The most incor- 
rigible culprits are punished with the loss of either one 
or both hands, and deprivation of nose or ears ; bat muti- 
lation is rare, for whoever has the means to pay, or can 
procure a respectable security to pay for him within a 
given time, may expiate the most heinous transgressions** 

On the commission of a data or burglary, a quzzakeef, 
or highway robbery, the chief, within whose jurisdiction 
the act has been perpetrated, is called upon to make 
restitution ; and, should he decline, the chief whose sub- 
ject has suffered, resorts to the Lex talionis^ and drives off 
several hundred head of cattle, or retaliates in some way 
or other. This summary method of obtaining indemnifi- 
cation for all robberies attended with aggravating circum- 
stances, is a measure of absolute necessity, as many of 
the petty Chiefs, their Officers and Znmeendars, harbour 
thieves, and participate in their guilty practises. 

When a petty theft is substantiated, either through the 
medium of a Muhur-khaee, or the production of a Mooddo 
or Numoona, (the confession of one of the thieves, or a 
part of the stolen property) the sufferer has generally, 

* Statutes were passed in the reigns of Henry 8th, Edward 6tli, 
Elizabeth, andjAMfis Ist, sanctioniog, and directing the loss of the rig;ht 
and left hand, and of an ear, for offences which would by a Sikh, scarce- 
ly be deemed deserving the infliction of a mulct. 

t This is an Arabic or Turkish word. In the provincial dialect we 
have Dharwee. 



APPENDIX — SUCCESSIONSr. 197 

as a preliminary to pay the Chuharum, or fourth, as a 
perquisite to the Chief, or his Thanadar, ere he can recover 
the amount of his losses. Independent of this, the Muhur- 
khaee, or approver, generally stipulates for a full pardon, 
and that no demand shall be made on the confessing delin- 
quent for his Kundee, viz. any, or such portion of the 
property, as may have accrued to him as his dividend of 
the spoil. This share of the spoil becomes chargeable to 
the other thieves, and on settling accounts it is distributed 
equally amongst them. 

In all cases of stolen cattle, it is an established rule 
^hen the Soordgh-Khoj, or trace of the footsteps, is car- 
ried to the gate, or into the fields of any village, the 
Zumeendars of that village must either shew the track 
beyond their own boundary, and allow the village to be 
searched, or pay the value of the cattle.'*^ 

The rules of succession to landed property in the 
Sikh States are arbitrary, and are variously modified in 
accordance to the usages, the interests and prejudices 
of different families, nor is it practicable to reduce the 
anomalous system to a fixed and leading principle. A 
distinction obtains in the Canons of Inheritance, between 
the Manjhee and Malwa Sikhs, or Singhs : the former 
are so termed from the tract situated between the Ravee 
and Beeah rivers, from which they originally sprung, 
migrating thence and extending their conquests through 
the Punjab, and into the Sirhind province, where being 
of a military and predatory character, they soon conquered 

* Hume, in treating of the Anglo-Saxons, says *'If any man could 
track his stolen cattle into another's ground, the latter was obliged to 
shew the tracks out of it, or pay their value.'' 



198 APPENDIX— SUCCESSIONS. 

for themselves a permanent possession. The Malwa 
Chiefs, are the Puteeala, Jheend, and Naba Rajahs, and 
the Bhaee of Khytul. The three first namied are descen- 
dants of a common ancestor named PHOOL9who was Chon- 
dharee of a village near Balenda, and are from him often 
coUectiyely styled the Phoolkeean. The progenitor of the 
Bhaee of Khytal, having rendered some service to one of 
the Sikh Gooroos, the appellation of Bhaee, or brother, 
was conferred apon him as a mark of distingaished appro- 
bation ; and the persons of all the Bhaees are conse- 
qaently held in a degree of respect above their fellows. 

The practice of succession to property, both real and 
personal, amongst the Manjhee Singhs, is by Blmee^ 
blind and Choonda-bund. The first being an eqnal 
distribation of all lands, forts, tenements, and moveables, 
among sons, with, in some instances, an extra or doable 
share to the eldest termed " Khurch-Sirdaree,^' assimi- 
lating to the double share in the law of Moses.* Choonda- 
bond is an equal division among motheni for their 
respective male issue.f 

When aManjheeSingh dies, leaving no male offsprings 
his brothers, or his nephews of the full blood, assume the 
right of succession, to which the widow or widows 
become competitors. According to the Shasters, (if they 

♦ Deuteronomy, Chap, xxi, v. 15, 16, 17. 

t This practice of Choonda-bund is agreeable to the Hindoo Law. 
Vtara says ** If there be many sons of one man, by -different mothers, 
but in equal number and alike by class, a dittribution amongst the 
mothers is approved to Brihaspati." If there be many springs from one, 
alike in number and in class, but born of rival mothers, partition mast 
be made by them, according to law, by the allotment of shares to the 
mothers. 



APPENDIX — SUCCESSIONS. 199 

may be considered applicable to public property and 
Chiefships,) the prior title of the widows is held •* but 
the Sikhsy with a view to avt)id an open and direct viola* 
tioQ of a known law, have a custom termed Kurawa or 
Chadur-dula, which obtains in every family, with the 
exception to those of the Bhaees. The eldest surviving 
brother of the deceased places a white robe over, and the 
neeth, or ring in the nose of the widow, which ceremony 
constitutes her his wife* 

This practice accords with the Hindoo and Mosaic 
Lawsf and acts as a counteractive to the many evils atten- 
dant on female rule. If the free will of the widow were 
consulted, it is scarcely to be doubted, she would prefer 
the possession of power, and the charms of liberty, to the 
alternative of sacrificing her claims to her brother-in-law, 
and taking her station amongst his rival wives. Judging 
from the masculine disposition, — want of modesty, and 
of delicate feeling, which form the characteristic feature 
of Sikh females, necessity, and not choice, must have led 
them to yield to the adoption of an usage, which mast 
often be repugnant to their natures, and disgusting to 
their thoughts. 

On failure of brothers and nephews, the general prac- 
tice is, equal division of lands, and personal effects^ 
amongst the surviving widows of Manjhee Singhs. 

* In the Bengal and most generally current Shasters, this is the rule : 
but not in the Mithila province, (Tirhoot, &c.) the widow is there ex- 
cluded, and receives only a maintenance. 

t Deuteronomy, Chap, xxv, v. 5 to 10. 

t Yajuyawoleva says, " If a brother die without male issue, let another 
approach the widow once in the proper season." And Mbnu ordains, 
" having espoused her in due form, she being clad in a white robe." 



200 APPENDIX— SUCCESSIONS. 

Adoption by the widows is not allowed, and the female 
line is entirely excluded from the succession, to prevent 
the estates merging in the possessions of another family. 

The inconvenience, and evil, originating in the pre- 
vailing practice amongst the Manjhee families, of suc- 
cessive and minute sub-divisions of landed property, 
aggravated by the system of coparcenary possession, are 
seen, felt, and acknowledged, and the mischief of such a 
system cannot be too soon remedied.'*^ 

Amongst the Malwa Singhs, the rights of primo- 
geniture in the males are respected, and Jageers, or 
grants of land, are assigned for the maintenance of 
younger sons, by which the many inconveniences, notic- 
ed in the practice, or rule established amongst the 
Manjhee families, are obviated. 

* The Agrarian Law thus adopted amongst the Manjhee Singhs, and 
the condition to which it has reduced many families, may receive illus- 
tration from the analogous picture drawn by Sir Jbhn Davis in his work 
entitled Discovery qf the causes, why Ireland toas never entirely subdued by 
the English, << The custom of Gavil-kind did breed another mischief, for 
** thereby fevery man being born to land, as well bastard, as legitimate, 
*' they all held themselves to be gentlemen. And though their portions 
" were never so small, and themselves never so poor, for Gavil-kind most 
« needs in the end make a poor gentility, yet did they scarce descend to 
*' husbandry, or merchandize, or to learn any mechanical art or science. 
'* Besides these poor gentlemen were so affected to their small portions of 
'^ land, that they rather chose to live at home by theft, extortions and 
" cashering than to seek any better fortunes abroad. The lesser proprietors 
** should be encouraged to attach themselves to, and acknowledge the 
'* authority of some neighbouring superior. This is an arrangement that 
" will not be attended with the least loss to them in a pecuniary point of 
" view, and it will ensure the certainty of having so many horse at com- 
** mand under one leader, instead of having many individuals, without a 
'< head, or what is worse, so insignificant, as not to be remembered 1a a 
" moment of exigency." 



APPEN DIX — SUCCESSIONS. 201 

The Malwa Singhs^ with exceptioQ to the Bhaees, 
sanction and admit the usage of Kurawa, thereby oppos- 
ing a bar to disputed saccession between the brothers ^ 
nephews, and the widows of a deceased chief. 

The Bhaees of Khytul, and other places, although they 
reject the union by Kurawa, yet set aside the claims of a 
widow, in favor of the brothers and nephews of one dying 
without male issue. The widows of Bhaees receive small 
Jageers for their support during life. 

The Mahomedan families scattered over the Sikh 
States, who have been enabled to preserve their existence, 
and the shadow of power, reject the ordinances of 
their Law-givers, and are guided by rules of their own 
forming. Were the Mahomedan and Hindoo laws on 
inheritance, as inculcated by the Shura and Metakshara, 
to be made the leading principle in succession to landed 
property, very few, if any, of the many principalities in 
India would remain entire, and a common distribution 
would become universal, to the extinction of great 
estates, and the annihilation of the chiefs with their 
aristocratical influence. 

When the country, overrun by the Sikhs, had been par- 
celled out into new allotments, the former divisions into 
districts, as established during the reigns of the Dehlee 
Emperors, and recorded by the Kanoongoes, or rale- 
tellers, became void, and much angry litigation arose 
in respect to the village boundaries, and waste lands. 
The cultivators originated the cause of dispute, and the 
effect was in roost cases an appeal to arms, and an effusion 
of blood, before the claims of the parties could be heard, 

2 B 



202 APPENDIX— BOUNDARY DISPUTES. 

and decided by a convention of neighbouring Zameendars, 
selected to draw a line of demarcation, and boand by 
a solemn oath to act impartially.* The litigants made 
choice of an equal number of Moonsifs or arbitrators, in 
some cases one each, in others two to three each. These 
committees would prolong their sittings for weeks and 
months, being all the while fed and paid by the parties, 
caressed and threatened by their chiefs, their relatives 
and friends, influenced by party spirit, governed by fear, 
and little verifying the saying common amongst them oC 
** Punch men PurmisurT Five different modes of 
accommodation were in general adoption amongst these 
Punchayts — 1st, An equal division of the land in dis- 
pute. — 2nd, The Punchayt selected the oldest and most 
respectable member of their committee to define the 
limit, the others consenting to abide by his award. — 3rd, 
A moiety of the line of demarcation was drawn by the 
arbiters of the one party, and the remaining portion by 
those of the other. — 4th, The Punchayt referred the 
final adjustment to an old inhabitant of a neighbouring 
village, upon whose local knowledge and experience they 
placed more reliance than on their own limited informa- 
tion. — 5th, It sometimes occurred to the Punchayt to 
leave the division in the hands^of one of the disputants, 
whose probity and reputation were established in the 
vicinity. 

Village boundary disputes, attended with aggravating 
circumstances, between the Chiefs and cultivators of 

* The oath administered to the person who erects the boundary pillars, 
if a Hindoo, is the 6unga-Ju], or the Chour, or raw hide of the cow, or 
swearing by his son. If a Moossulman, the Qoran, or the placing his, 
hands on his son's head. The Chour, and swearing by his own child, 
are the most binding. 



APPENDIX — BOUNDARY DISPUTES. 208 

contiguous and rival states, are of daily occurrence, and 
the right and title to the smallest slip of land is contest- 
ed with an obstinacy quite disproportionate to its intrinsic 
value. Little attention is paid by the Chiefs or their 
subjects to the justice or reasonableness of a case ; it is 
quite suflScient, according to Sikh notions, that a claim be 
advanced and presented, as something may be obtained, 
and nothing can be lost by the reference to a Punchayt, 
which will use its endeavours to please, and harmonize its 
decision to the wants and wishes of those by whom it has 
been selected. 

Bloodshed between Zumeendars in a boundary dispute, 
is sometimes atoned for by giving a nata, or daughter, in 
marriage to a relative of the deceased, or commuted to 
the payment of 150 to 200 rupees, or 125 beegahs of 
land. In general, however, revenge is sought, and the 
Khoon-buha, or price of blood, deemed insuflScient satis- 
faction, particularly when a mother has to lament the 
loss of a favorite child, or a wife with a family, the 
bereavement of a husband. 

Claims to islands in a river flowing between two 
Manors, and to alluvions, are determined by what is 
called the Kuchmuch^ or Kishtee-bunna, which practice 
or rule assigns the land to the proprietor of the bank, or 
main, upon which the alluvion is thrown, and from which 
the water has receded. If the island be formed in the 
centre of the river, and there be depth of water on each 
side of it, sufficient for boats to ply, in this case it be- 
comes the joint property of the Chiefs on both banks.* 

* This appears a very ancieot custom, being mentioned by Blackstonb, 
viho derived his information from Jiractan. 

2 B 2 



204 APPENDIX — WATBR-COVRSBS. 

This custom which obtains in the Sikh States, with regard 
to alluvion, is universal, so far as my knowledge in the 
local laws and usages of India has extended, wherever 
lands are liable to such accident by an alteration in the 
course of rivers. In the case of lands cast by the change 
of the stream from one side of the river to the other, 
though one Chief gains, and another loses, yet it is 
customary to preserve the rights of the Zemindar, if he 
consent to cultivate the lands. The decided enmity of 
two Chiefs is seldom a bar to an arrangement, in which 
each finds or perceives an advantage to himself, either 
immediate or prospective, for streams in India are so 
subject to change, that the land lost one rainy sciason 
may be regained in the next, or even in the cold weather, 
when the river falls and the floods cease. 

The use and abuse of the ancient privilege of the 
Zumeendars in damming up, and turning the course of a 
stream into artificial Kools, or cuts, for the purpose of 
irrigating the lands in its vicinity, causes disputes and 
bloodshed ; and, after much angry dissention, the result 
is generally a compromise stipulating for a reciprocal 
enjoyment of the gifts of nature. In some instances, 
and in contiguous estates, the parties will agree to take 
equal shares of the water, either by the hour, or the day, 
or by measurement ; in other cases, one will receive two- 
thirds, and his neighbour one- third only, according to 
their respective and pressing wants. The land-holderi, 
whose possessions are adjacent to the hills from which and 
their base, these streams and springs take their rise, 
require and demand a very large portion of the water for 
their rice lands, into which it is diverted by numberless 
water-courses, drawn with great ingenuity by the culti* 



APPENDIX — WATER-COURSES. 205 

valors into distant and coantless parterres. Those who 
hold land at a distance, and lower down the river, in the 
more arid districts, are querulous, that the streams do 
not flow unobstructed in their natural course, which 
would give them the unabsorbed portion to irrigate their 
wheat and barley crops. 

It seems to be a question how far a Chief may be justi- 
fied in entirely obstructing the course of a natural stream, 
and in appropriating the waters to his own exclusive 
advantage, to the serious detriment and loss of his neigh- 
bours, whose rights he may seem bound to respect, so .far 
as they have relation to property. On the whole, it ap« 
pears most just, that all should partake, as far as circum- 
stances will admit, of a share in the water of a natural 
stream or rivulet, and that when the absolute wants of 
those on the upper part of the stream have been supplied, 
the surplus should be again turned into, and permitted to 
flow in its bed, to satisfy others lower down, whether for 
irrigation, or the consumption of the people, and cattle, 
in the arid districts. The lesser currents do not swell in 
tlie hot months, as is the case with the larger rivers, 
which debouche from the Himala, and are fed in warm 
weather by the liquefaction of the snow : the supply of 
water in them is hence often so scanty, as scarcely 
to administer to the necessities of those near their 
beads, whilst the distress of others, farther down the 
stream, induces them to become more clamourous 
as the c|uautity decreases; and ultimately stops short 
of them. 

Bunds, or dams, are always constructed, after the 
ains have ceased, to raise the water to u level with the 



•A jkHAjt A-^A A.*A jn 



206 APPENDIX— MARRIAGES. 

surface, aud to reader it applicable to the parposes of 
irrigatioD ; were a total prohibition of this beneficial 
practice to be enacted, large tracts on many estates^ 
throQgh which streams flow, in deep channels, woald 
become uncaltivated ; and the villages depopulated, to 
the serious loss of the proprietors, and the ruin of their 
Zumeendars. With the view of relieving the deficiencies 
experienced from the want of the fluid in the arid districts 
lower down, a substitute for the dam might be found in a 
Hydraulic wheelof simple construction, to draw the water 
to the level, and in places where the banks are compara* 
tively low, it will only be requisite to dig the tooi, or cut, 
for the reception and carriage of the water deeper, and to 
raise it in the cut by sluice boards. The churrtu, or lea- 
thern bags, in common use at wells, with a relief of bul- 
locks, might also be serviceable in other spots. AH these 
expedients, however, fall very short of the utility and 
cheapness of the dams, when water requires to be 
conveyed many miles, and every tool is a canal in 
miniature. 

Nuptial contracts are made in early youth by the 
parents or nearest of kin, who, in too many cases, are 
influenced more by pecuniary and sordid motives, than 
by the welfare of the children. Disagreements are very 
common relative to betrothments, (mungnee), and to 
breaches of a promise of marriage, (nata or nisbutj 
amongst all classes of the inhabitants. In some instances, 
real or imaginary diseases, or bodily defects, will be 
alleged by one of the contracting parties, as a reason why 
the bargain should be annulled ; in others, a flaw in the 
cast, and in most a discovery, that the girl had been pro- 
mised to two, three, or four difibrent families, from all of 



APPENDIX — MARRIAGES. 207 

which the needy parents or gaardians had received 
money, ornaments, or clothes. If both parties be the 
subjects of one Chief, they appear before him, and either 
he, or his officers, satisfies them^ or refers the decision to 
a Punchaytof the same class as the disputants. If the 
complainant and defendant happen to reside in separate 
jurisdictions, and cither of the Chiefs persevere in evad- 
ing a compliance with the rule in such cases, or reject 
the award of a Punchayt, Gaha, or self-indemnification, 
is adopted by the opposite party, and the subjects, pro- 
perty, and cattle of his neighbour are picked up, and 
detained until satisfaction be ofiered and procured. The 
other side issues its letters of marque, and this pernici- 
ous system is frequently carried to the commission of 
serious outrage, and to infractions of the public tran- 
quillity.* 

It is not a rare occurrence for a parent or a guardian 
to be convicted of marrying a girl to one man, after her 
betrothment to another. The Chief, or a Punobayt, in 
general, in such cases, gives a verdict that the plain- 
tiff is entitled to a female from the family ; and if there 
be not one, the parents or guardian must find a sub- 
stitute; or, as a dernier expedient, to which the in* 
jured party very unwillingly assents, the money he may 
have expended, or a trifle in excess with interest, is 
decreed to be restored to him, that he may find a spouse 
elsewhere. 



* A demand was made on the state of Putteeala, by a subject of the 
Nabah Rajah, for the price of a baffaloe ralaed at 15 Rupees, but which 
on the settlement of the account by reprisal, exceeded 900. The case is 
still in dependance between them. Between the same states and by the 
same system, one rupee accumulated io a few years to 1500. 



208 APPENDIX— WIDOWS. 

Amongst all the Jat families^t and some others oF the 
lower classes in the Punjab, a custom prevails, on the 
demise of one brother leaving a widow, for a surviving 
brother to fake his sister-in-law to wife by Kurawah or 
Chadurdalna, (see inheritance.) The offspring by the 
connexion are legitimate, and entitled to sacceed to a 
share of all the landed and personal property.^: It is 
optional with the widow, to take, either the eldest, 
(Jeth), or the youngest, who is generally preferred and 
deemed most suitable. Should she determine to relin* 
quish worldly ideas, and to reside chaste in her father- 
in-Iaw*s house, she may adopt this course; but such 
instances are very rare, particularly in the case of young 
females, and are not to be looked for in a society, and 
amongst tribes, notorious for the laxity of their morals 
and for the degeneracy of their conceptions. 

In default of surviving brothers, and in accordance 
with acknowledged usage, the widow is at the disposal 
of her father-in-law's family : From the moment she has 
quitted the paternal roof, she is considered to have been 
assigned as the property of another, and ceases to have 
a free will. Where the Hymeneal bond is so loosely and 
irrationally knit, it is not a matter of surprise, that the 
feeble tie and servile obligation, which unite the wife 

t Intermarriages between the J4t Sikh Chiefs, and the Aloowaleah 
and Ramgurheah families, do not obtain, the latter being KukUs and 
Thokas (mace bearers and carpenters) and deemed inferior. 

X The present Rajah of Nabah, Juswunt Singh, and six of the Singh- 
Pooreah Chiefs, are by a connubial union of this nature. Maha R^ja 
Rdnjeet Singh has gone some steps further : He took by Kurttwah 
a lady betrothed to his father Maha Singh : He has also taken Dya 
KooNwuR and Rutun Koonwur, the widows of Saheb Singh, the chief of 
Goojrat, his own uncle-in-law. 



APPENDIX— WIVES. 209 

to the hasbandy should make bat an insincere and heart- 
less impression. Females are daily accused before Chiefs 
and their officers of breaches of conjugal virtue, and of 
having absconded to evade the claims of a father, or 
mother-in-law, or the established rights of a Jeth, or a 
Daitvur. When they have fled into the territory of 
another Chief, it is often difficult to obtain their restitu- 
tion, but the solicitations of a Pnnchayt, and the more 
forcible argument of reprisals, are in the end efficacious, 
and the unfortunate woman, if she do^otin a fit of despe* 
ration take opium, or cast herself into a well, is necessi- 
tated to submit to the law of the land, which she will again 
violate on the first opportune occasion. Sense of shame, 
or feelings of honor, have no place in the breast of a J&t,"*^ 
and the same may be said of men of other low tribes. 
They will make strenuous exertions for recovery of their 
wives, after they have absconded, and will take them back 
as often as they can get them, bickering even for the 
children the woman may have had by her paramour, as some 
recompense for her temporary absence, and for the ex- 
pense and trouble they have incurred in the search for herf 

Debtors and revenue defaulters who abscond, and find 
protection in a foreign state, are seldom demanded, and 
if demanded, never surrendered by even the most petty 
Chief. The promise is made, that, when the delinquent 
has the means, he shall discharge whatever sum may 
appear, on a scrutiny into his accounts, to be fairly doe 

* The old Chief Taea SineH Ghyba often declared, that a JkVn nose 
reached to Mooltan, and that if he lost a part of it for any offence, 
there would still be enough remaining. Implying that he was a stranger 
to shame and could survive disgrace. 

t Law of Moses, Deuteronomy, Chap. Std v. 16 and 10. 

2 c 



210 APPENDIX— ENDOWMENTS. 

by him. It is not ancommon for a depatation, composed 
of the beads, or of some respectable inhabitants of a 
town or tillage, from which a person has removed, to 
proceed and wait upon the Chief with whom a fugitive 
may find an asylum, and, entering into stipulations for 
bis personal safety, to receive him back, if be be willing 
to return. 

In the Sikh states there are no compulsory laws for 
raising money for the relief of the indigent. Most 
fnqeers belong to a punf, or sect, and each sect has its 
temples, which are endowed with lands and villages, 
(termed Oordoo and Poora) by the chiefs, and to which 
Churhawa, or offerings of grain and money, are made by 
its votaries. An elemosynary establishment is some-^ 
times founded, in places of great resort, by chiefs and 
wealthy natives, and named Suda-birt, at which every 
i^tranger is entertained for a certain number of days, and 
fed gratis. Every Hindoo temple has its Mukunf, or 
head, to whom are attached his immediate Chelas or fol^ 
lowers, who parade the country, towns, and villages, ask- 
ing, or demanding charity, which forms the support of 
their superior and themselves, and is freely distributed to 
the needy stranger and weary traveller, who may stop at 
their gate, or desire a lodging and a meal within the courts 
of the Thakaor-Dwara, 

The Moosulman classes have their Peerzadas, who. 
make their rounds amongst their mooreeds, or disciples^ 
and receive from them such neeaz, or offerings, as they 
can afford, or may choose to present. Since the decline 
of the Muhomedan, and the rise and establishment of the 
Sikh power, the Peerzadas have to lament the loss in 



APPENDIX— MENDICANTS. 211 

-nlany instances, and the diminotion in others, of their 
village endowments. They still retain, however, a por- 
tion of the lands they held during the reigns of the Empe- 
rors of Delhi, attached to their principal rozas, tombs^ 
or seminaries, but the rents from them, and the trifle 
given in neeaz, are barely sufficient to maintain them- 
selves and families in respectable circumstances, and to 
support the Khadims, or servitors, in constant attend- 
ance at the tombs of their saints. 

Every village, independent of the fixed dues to the black- 
smith, carpenter, washerman, to choomars, and sweep- 
ers, has its 7nulka, or incidental expenses, charged on its 
cultivators for what are termed aya, gya, or grain, ghee, 
&c. given to wandering fuqeers and needy passengers. 
The punch or heads of the villages, who supply the mulha, 
collect it in cash from the villagers, twice during the 
year, and it not unfrequently gives rise to altercation and 
dispute, from the real or supposed inclination of the 
punch to impose upon them, under the specious and piou^ 
name of charity, much of which finds its way into the col- 
lectors own pocket. 

Hindoo and M.oo8u\mwii fuqeers are found located in and 
around every town and village, and each has his Tukeeaht 
or place of abode, to which a few beegahs of land aro 
assigned, the gift of the Zumeendars, who, in other res- 
pects, also, take care of the common holy fraternity, that 
their blessing may continue to be upon them. 

The Jinsee, or grain lands, are cessed by the Kun, 
(appraisement), or the Butaee, (division of the produce 
in the field;) both are exceptionable. It requires a 

2 c 2 



s:^^ m'FA'^AM . ^^ ^ ^ami 



212 APPENDIX— LAND REVENUE. 

very discerning and experienced man, to estimate the 
quantity in a field of standing grain : In some it is over, 
and in others nnder rated. The Bataee is detailed and 
tedious, an establishment also is required to watch the 
different Kulwarah, or heaps of grain on the field. 
Cultivators are apt to steal it during the night, and in 
stormy and wet weather much of it is damaged, ere it 
can be housed. It is a common saying *' But€iee lootaee/* 
or Butaee is plunder. Some Chiefs exact a half of the 
produce, others two-fifths, and a few, one-fourth. Sugar- 
cane, cotton, poppy, indigo, and all the lands under the 
denomination of the Zubtee, are assessed at fixed rates, 
and the rent is received in cash. 

In the Sikh states, the lands of most towns and villages 
are parcelled out into puttees, tumfs, or divisions, 
amongst the Punch, or Zumeendars, who are answerable 
for the Sirkar's or Ruler's share. In some, where there 
are no ostensible heads, the lands are held by hulsaree, or 
ploughs. Thus, if in a village society, there be twenty- 
five ploughs, and 2500 beegahs, the Jinsee and Zubtee 
lands, are equalized amongst the Asamees, or husband- 
men, which gives 100 beegahs to each plough, and each 
Asamee pays his own rent, much on the principle of a 
Byotwar settlement. In general, the Punch hold a few 
beegahs, and also the Puchotrah, (5 per cent.) on the net 
collections, in Inaum. 

The system of assessment by the Kun or Bntaee, 
pleases the agricultural community, and the Chiefs, who 
pay their armed retainers and establishments every six 
months in kind, with a small sum in cash called poJuX" 
kee or clothing : it also accords with their internal plan 



APPENDIX — TRANSIT DUTIES. 2l3 

of managemeDt. On some small estates, with compara- 
tively few followers, it works well, bat it is not at all 
adapted to extended territory and great governments.'* 

The chief sources of oppression on the people, under 
Sikh rule, emanate, 1st, from the exaction of the Siwaee" 
Junta, or extraordinary imposts, levied in cash on every 
village under the general head of the Huq-Huboobnuzur- 
bhet, and branching out into a variety of names. 2nd, 
The inhuman practice of Kar-hegar, or the impress of 
labour of the inhabitants without recompense ; and 3rd, 
the violence to which they are exposed from licentious 
armed dependents, quartered in the forts and towers 
which cover the country, and prey on the villages. 

Every major and minor chief exercises the privilege 
by prescription of taxing trade, yet the duties, though 
levied at every ten to twenty miles, are light. A prac- 
tice called hoonda-bara prevails in the mercantile com- 
munity. A trader gives over charge of his caravan of 
goods to a nanukpootrah, who engages to convey it for a 
stipulated sum from Jughadree to Umritsur, the empo« 
rium of the Sikh states, paying all the duties. The 
nanukpootrahs, from the sanctity which attaches to their 
persons as the descendants of Nanuk, the founder of 
the Sikh faith, enjoy certain exemptions, and are leas 
subject to molestation from custom house importunity 
than others. Beema, or insurance, maybe had at a cheap 
rate from the Nouhureeah merchants to all parts of India. 
Should any grievous or vexatious tax be imposed on 

* RuNJEET Singh, when urged by his officers to abandon the farming 
system, and introduce the Run and Butaee, always replies, '* that he 
cannot give his time and attention to the weighing and boutiog of grain." 



214 APPENDIX — SUTTBE8. 

the trade by a chieC he suffers an alienation of this branch 
of his revenue^ by the route being changed through the 
possessions of another, who has the power to protect, and 
the inclination to encourage the transit of traffic through 
his domains.* 

Sikh women do not burn with the corpse of their hus- 
bands. A single exception occurred in 1805, in the 
town of Booreeah, on the death of the chief Rae Singh, 
when his widow made a voluntary sacrifice of herself, 
rejecting a handsome provision in land. There exists no 
prohibition against the Suttee. In all cases they are un- 
derstood to be willing victims, and much real or pretend- 
ed dissuasion is exercised by the public functionaries, 
and by friends and relations, to divert the miserable 
creature from her destructive intentions. That affection 
and duty have not always place in this class of fdo de se, 
which would explain and extenuate such a deed, and con* 
vert the offspring of superstition into a noble act of self- 
devotion, is obvious from the frequency of Suttee, and 
from the fact that it is not only the favored wife, but a 
whole host of females, that sometimes are offered up to 
blaze on the pyre of their deceased lord.f 

In most cases of Suttee, it will generally be observed, 
that a slow reluctant promise has been exacted from, or 

* RuNJEET Singh became anxious to establish a Copper Mint at Umrit- 
sur, and prohibited the importation of pice from Jaghadree. The mer* 
chants of Jughadree retaliated, and withheld the exportation of copper 
from their town, and gained their point. 

The Rajah of Puteeala has attempted to raise the duties in trade, and 
failed, from his territory being avoided. 

t This allusion is made to the frightful scenes, which occurred on the 
demise of the Hill Rajahs of Kooloo, Nahun, and Juswouly and other 
places. 



APPENDIX — SUTTEES, 215 

made by the wretched woman in an unguarded moment, 
when under the impulse of grief. A multitude is imme- 
diately assembled round her dwelling and person; cla- 
mour and precipitancy succeed, no time is permitted for 
reflection ; honor, shame, and duty all now combine to 
strengthen her bloody resolution, and the scene is hurried 
through and closed.* 

* In 1826, after the domain of Umbala lapsed to the Hon'ble Company, 
a very young Brahmin woman heard of the demise of her husband in a 
foreign land and expressed a determination to immolate herself with part 
of his clothes. A concourse of people instantly gathered around her and 
the utmost excitation prevailed. Being absent at the time, the office 
Moonshee, theThanadar of Umbala, and the Soobadar on duty, all three 
Hindoos of high caste, took upon themselves the task and responsibility 
of preventing the sacrifice, dispersed the multitude, and induced the 
young creature to await a reply to the express they had despatched to 
me. A threat to confine and prosecute all instigators, and a pension of 
three rupees per month saved the Brahminee, and she survives, honored 
in her family and respected in society as a living Suttee, totally falsifying 
the current belief, that recantation brings disgrace, scorn, and contempt. 
On the demise of the Hill Rsyas of Bulaspoor and Nahan in 1824 and 
1827 there was no Suttee, and the practice has disappeared in the Hill 
States under the protection of British Government. 



NOTES. 



Page 2— Last line of the page. 

Initiation by drinking of the Pahul is a rite established 
by GooRoo GoviND, and is thus described by Khoosh- 
WUQT Raee. The candidate and the initiator wash their 
feet with water, and then put sugar into the liquid and stir 
it with a knife, while they repeat fire quatrains, the first of 
which runs as follows : 

Surawuk sidh sumoh sidhanak dekh phiryo ghur Jogee Jutee Kee, 
Soor surawuk sidh surawuk sunt sumoh un^k mutee kee — 
Sare hee desko dekh phiryo mut kooo nu dekhut pranpntee kee 
Sree Bhugwan kee Bhuye kripa bin ek rutee bin ek rutee kee. 

I have been round and have seen all kinds of devotees, Jogees and Jutees, 
Holy men, practisers of austerities, men wrapped up in contemplation of 

the Divinity with all their many ways and habits, 
Every country have I travelled over, but the truly godly I have seeii no 

where, 
Without the grace of God, friend, Man's lot weighs not the lowest fraction. 

The other quatrains are very nearly to the same efibct, we 
add the whole in the original character for the benefit of the 
curious, but do not think it worth while Co translate the 
remainder. 

¥TTW.*f€H ^W^ftlrf^ 4<lfMif T%^T %^^?ft^ • 
^T^TT^.* fll^^Tr^* W^^m^ ^^if^tll 

^.HH^jil^ Wt«^Tf^ •^^T^f^l t^T^ftll 

2 D 



218 NOTES. 

w% »mT 'ff^. ^Tw»T '^'fXT^i*^ ^'^'r "^f I 
f ^w% ^iJt w Wq?r ^?i*r 'rfirt v^ ^y^x n 

^W^^^^ ^^^^IUTT ^1^95^^rT far^T^t^ I 

^^f^Ti^ jx^ %T^^ ^?T3r t^n-T ^^ri ^W*r i 

Between each quatrain the breath is exhaled with a puff^ and 
the beverage of mixed sugar and dirty water stirred as above, 
is then drunk to the toast of **wah! wah! GovindSikh! 
ap hee gooroo chela.'' Hail ! hail ! Govind Sikh ! himself 
preceptor and pupil.'' The neophyte, after this ceremony, is 
a Sikh complete. It is said that when GooROO Goyind had 
only five followers, he went through this form with them, 
drinking of the water which had washed their feet, and they 
drinking that which had washed his. 

Page 27 — Third line from the bottom. 

Umur Singh, of Puteeala, was the son of Surdol Singh, 
who survived his father Ala Singh, two or three years, 
according to Khooshwuqt Raee. When Umur Singh 
waited on Ahmed Shah, he was ordered to shave his head 



NOTES. gl9 

and beard before entering the Royal presence. By a 
Nuzurana (or present) of a lakh of rupees, he purchased 
permission to appear bearded and unshorn. Khooshwuqt 
Raee says the title of Muhindur was obtained from Shah 
Alum in the time of Saheb Singh, and the style Muha- 
Raja Rajugan Buhadur was that conferred on Umur Singh 
by Ahmed Shah. 

Page 39 — End of the paragraph. 

Khooshwuqt Raee gives the same account of the death 
of Churut Singh, which he says happened at Oodhoo- 
Chuk, on the Busuntur, after the two armies had been for 
six months encamped on opposite sides of the stream, skir- 
mishing with one another. K. R. also confirms the story 
of the assassination of J H UN DA Singh, but says he was 
riding about at the time with two or three orderlies. He 
gives the same date for these events as Captain Murray. 

Page 40 — Last line. 

Khooshwuqt Raee says that Gunda Singh^ head of 
the Bhungee Misul, being applied to by Dhurum Singh 
for aid against M ah A Singh, made answer "Why should 
I destroy this youth and make over his inheritance to a 

servant?" 

Page 41 — Eighth line from the bottom. 

K hoosh wuQT Raee says the Bhungee Top had been taken 
by Churut Singh from Lehna Singh, but the carriage 
breaking down in the attempt to carry it to Gujraolee, it 
was left in deposit with the Zumeendars of Rusool Nugur, 
until it should be re-demanded by the captor. The restora- 
tion of the gun to the Bhungees was therefore a breach of 
faith. 

Page 43 — Ninth line from the bottom. 

Khooshwuqt Raee names several families which had 
found refuge in Jummoo, during the troubles of the Punjab. 

2 D 2 



220 NOTBS. 

Amongst others, MuLiKA Zumaneb, a Defalee Queen, and 
one of the widows of MbbrMunoo. HurbbSinoh^ the son 
with other members of the family of KajaKAONRA MuL, was 
also living there in splendour; and DilputRabe, the son of 
LuKHPUT Rabb, had likewise settled there, with the remains 
of several other families of Nobles of the Dehlee, or Vice 
Regal Courts. Runjbet Deo treated all these refugees 
with much distinction, and particularly enjoined his son to 
continue to them the same courtesy. Brij Raj, however, 
was no sooner seated on the Gudee, than he made them the 
objects of his extortion. From UuREB Singh he is said 
to have obtained 50 lakhs of rupees. 

Page 43 — End of the second paragraph. 

KiloosHWUQT Rabe statcs the plunder obtained by Maha 
BiNGH, from Jummoo, at two Krores of Rupees, but this 
seems much exaggerated. He also states that Brij Raj 
had been killed in an action with a Bhungee detaehment, 
and his son, Chyt Singh, was the Raja, when Maha Singh 
captured and sacked the town. 

Page 44 — 14th line from the bottom. 

According to K. R., Jy Singh ordered his people to 
shoot Maha Singh, and Goor Bukhsh, his son, in vain 
interceded to save him, — he also says, that Maha SinGh went 
off immediately from the interview, and was pursued and fired 
at as far as the village of Mejithia, but escaped fortunately 
without injury, 

Page 49 — End. 

Khooshwuqt Rabe is silent in respect to the fate of 
RuNjEET Singh's Mother, but admits that the Dewan was 
made away with, and adds that Run jeet was for some time 
after distrustful of the whole race of Mootusudees, and would 
employ none. 



NOTES. 221 

Page 53 — End of the page. 

J USA Singh of Chunduneeot, or CbeDiot, is said to have 
Surrendered to Runjeet Singh, upon a promise of restora^ 
tion sworn on the Holy Grunth, but was nevertheless made 
prisoner immediately on presenting himself, and stripped of 
all his possessions. Runjeet Singh being taxed with the 
perjury, called for the holy volumes on which he had sworn, 
and the wrappers being opened, some bricks in the shape of 
books were all that was found. 

Page 54 — End of the paragraph. 

Goo LAB Singh Bhungee died, it is said, from excessive 
drinking. Lohgurh stood a siege, and was taken by assault, 
— the besiegers having found entrance by a wicket gate, left 
open to act as an embrasure for an enormous gun. The 
place was taken in the midst of a storm in the month of 
December, and Goordut and his mother escaping, were 
all night exposed to the cold and rain, but found refuge at 
last with JoDH Singh> head of the Rumgurheea JVlisul, 
whose fort Ramgurh was not very far distant. Runjeet 
Singh found his aunt, the sister of Maha Singh, in the 
fort, and sent her off in a ruth, or covered cart, next morn- 
ing, to share the misfortunes of Ranbb Sookha. 

Page 60 — End of the paragraph. 

The result of Runjeet Singh's expedition of this season, 
from the time of his leaving Umritsur until bis return, is 
stated by Khooshwuqt Raee, to have been seven elephants, 
nine pieces of ordnance, fifty horses^ and about two lakhs of 
rupees in cash. 

Page 60 — Also. 

In 1807, JoDH Singh was gained over to close alliance 
with Runjeet, and K. R. gives a long detail of the means 
used to cajole biro. Amongst other things, Runjeet Singh 
asked permission to inspect the fort of Ramgurh, and went 



323 NOTES. 

there thinly attended. He professed great admiratioii of 
the fortifications, and ordered the foundations of 9 fort for 
himself, afterwards called Govindgurh, to be laid down accord- 
ing to the same plan. Jodh Singh was the son of JusA 
Singh, Maua Singh's ally against Jy Singh. He joined 
with his Misul the army that was led by Runjebt Singh 
against Kasoor in 1807, which is stated at 30,000 horse, 
being the united force of the Sookorchukeeas, Ghuneeas, 
Aloowalas, and Rumgurheeas. After eight days' fighting, 
an oat-work of the place was carried, when Shu rf-ood- dee N 
and others deserting, Kootub-ood-deen surrendered. 

Page 61 — Tenth line. 

MozuFFUR Khan is said to have paid eighty thousand 
rupees, and to have given five horses to be rid of the Sikh 
army. Daring the march back, a Zumeendar came up 
mounted on a fine horse to pay his respects. Runjebt 
Singh coveted the horse, and his over zealous courtiers 
demanded it rudely. The rider being ofibuded, rode up to 
Run J bet's elephant and made several cuts at him. The 
guard and attendants gathered round, but none was found 
that could match the Zumeendar in horsemanship and swprdr 
play. After having wounded and unhorsed several, he was 
shot and his horse thus secured. 

Page 63-— Eleventh line. 

It was about this time, that is, towards the close of 1807, 
that Mohkum Chund presented himself at the Court of 
RuNJEET Singh, and was appointed Dewan. He had 
served in this capacity with Saheb Singh of Goojrat, and, 
until his appointment, Runjebt Singh had no officer of 
this description. 

Page 63— The end. 

K. R. assigns the capture of Puthan Kot and Seeal Kot 
to the previous season, that is, 1807-8. 



NOTES. 223 

Page 68— Middle of the page. 

Khooshwuqt Raee says the Akalees intended to have 
taken their revenge upon the mission by a night attack, to 
prevent which Runjeet Singh sent 600 of his best troops 
to mount guard about Sir Charles Metcalfe's camp. 
In the morning. Sir Charles moved to a greater distance 
from Umritsur, and the Akalees dug up and burned the 
buried biers and every relic they could find of the Mohume- 
dan rite. 

Page 77 — Middle of the page. 

SuNSAR Chund played a double part through the whole 
of this negociation. After his engagement with Runjeet 
Singh, he entered into treaty with Umur Singh, promis- 
ing to surrender the fort to him, and thus obtaining leave 
to bring away his family, contrived to throw into the place 
his brother with four months supplies, thus hoping to keep 
it against both claimants. Runjeet Singh, however, seiz- 
ed Unrodh Chund as a hostage, and obtaining from 
SuNSAR Chund an order to be received into the place, brib- 
ed Umur Singh, whose army was sickly and pressed for 
supplies, in order to secure access to the gate, when no 
opposition was offered to his entrance. 

Page 78 — Last line. 

K. R. says that upon Goolab Singh's flying to RuN- 
jeet's camp, Saheb Singh of Goojrat, the father, took 
fright and fled to Bhimbur, whereupon his whole territory, 
and the treasure and property in his forts, were quickly taken 
possession of by RuNJEET, and a Jageer of 12,000 Rs. per 
annum was assigned to Goolab Singh. The plunder of 
this family is stated to have yielded between five and six 
lakhs of rupees in cash and seven hundred villages. In 
1810, Saheb Singh gave himself up and obtained a Jageer 
of rupees 25,000 per annum. 



dSk 



234 NOTBS. 

Page 79— Fourth line from the bottom. 

According to Khooshwuqt Rabb, Shah Shooja was 
invited to Mooltan byMoozuFFURKHAN^ with whom Vufa 
Bboum, with the Shah's family, had already taken refage, and 
bad brought the Shah's jewels. Moozuffur Khan declar- 
ed, he required the Shah's aid and countenance to enable 
him to withstand the attacks of Runjebt SiNOHt He no 
sooner* however, made his appearance under tl^e walls, than 
the fort guns were opened on him, from which ^. R. surr 
mises that the Kiladar wished the death of the Shah, in 
order that he might plunder the jewels, or if he surrender- 
ed, that it was his intention to have given him up to Prince 
K AM RAN, which would equally have answered his purpose. 
Shah Shooja rode away beyond the reach of the fort guns, 
but remained in the neighbourhood until Moozuffur Khan 
repenting, assigned over four Purgunas, with a Jageer of 
10,000, for the Shah's personal expences. 

Page 153 — Tenth line from the bottom. 
And page 170. 

Abbas Meerza died in the early part of the present 
year 1834. It must be recollected, however, that Uiis work 
was compiled and prepared for publication in 1833. The 
argument holds, whoever may be the competitor for the Per- 
sian Throne, whose cause may be espoused by the Russian 
Autocrat. The party at the Court of Tehran, who look to 
that quarter, will not have been extinguished by the death 
of the individual Prince, whose name was to the contract 
entered into. 



INDEX OF PRINCIPAL PERSONS. 



A. 

Adeena Beg Khan, an officer of the Lah6r Soobah, page 5— joins Meer 
Munoo against the Abdalees, 11 — his advice, 11 — withdraws after 
the defeat, 12 — summoned by the Afghan Governor of Lahdr, 15— 
retires into the hills and associates with the Sikhs, 15, 16 — calls in 
the Mahrattas, 16 — his death and character, 16, 17. 

Agur Khan, Chief of Rajaoree, leagued with the Bhimbhur Chief against 
Runjeet Singh, 91 — submits, 94 — aids the first expedition against 
Kashmeer, 104, 105 — advises the attack of Mahomed Uzeem Khan's 
position, 106 — leagued with Poonch against Runjeet in the second 
expedition against Kashmeer, 123 — imprisoned, 125. 

Ahmed Khan, of Jhung, submits to Runjeet Singh, 56— exactions from 
him, sent prisoner to Lah6r, 111 — restored to liberty, 114. 

Ahmed Shah — Contributes to the fall of the Moghul £mpire, 1, 2 — 
intrigues with the Soobadar of Lah6r, 6 — marches to revenge the 
death of his messenger, 6 — captares Lah6r, 6 — his views on Hin- 
doostan, 7 — retires worsted in an action, 8 — grants terms to Meer 
Munoo of Lah6r, 9, 10— returns, sits down before Lah6r, 11— defeats 
Meer Munoo and takes it, 12— conquers Kashmeer, 18 — marches to 
Dehlee without opposition, 14, 15— occupies Sirhind and the Pun- 
jab, 15 — returns, associated with Chiefs of Hindoostan, 18— gains 
advantages over the Mahrattas, 18, 19 — overthrows them at Panee- 
put, 20— advances in 1762-61 to pot down the Sikhs, 23— defeats 
tlu'm at Hureeana Bumala, 24— destroys the tank, &c. at Umritsury 
25 — again reduces Kashmeer, 26— confers honors on the Grandson 
of Ala Sing of Puteeala, 27— recalled to lUbooI; 28— his death, 28. 

2 £ 



226 INDEX* 

Ala Singh, Riga of Pnteeala, captured by Ahmed Shab, leceives fayon^ 
25 — is confirmed in the possession of Sirhind, 27 — succeeded by his 
son Surdol Singh, Note to page 27. 

Allard, Monsr., a French Officer in Runjeet Singh's employ, his arriyal 
at Lahdr, 131 — address to Runjeet Singh, 132 — attends the meet- 
ing with the Governor General, his advice to Runjeet, 162. 

Amherst, Earl, Governor General, — his intercourse with Runjeet Singh, 
147 — carries home presents to the King of England, 152. ^ 

Apa Saheb — Moodajee Bhoosla, seeks refuge in Lahdr, 126. 

AsKooR, Ranee of Pateeala, quarrels with Raja Saheb Singh, her hus- 
band, 61, 62 — made regent on her husband being deposed by Colonel 
Ochterlony, 75. 

Ata Mohommed Khan, son of Vuzeer Sheer Mohummed of Kabool, 79 
— leagued with the Governors of Attuk and Kashmeer, 83— holds 
Shah Shooja prisoner in Kashmeer, 92. 

B. 

Baluk Ram, Soogun Chund's Gomashta at Lah6r, aids the flight of Shah 

Shooja's Begums, 102. 
Beer Singh, Raja of Noorpoor, in the hills, expelled, 110. 
Bentinck, Lord Wm. C. Governor General of India, proposes an inter- 

view with Runjeet Singh, 159 — proceeds to Roopur, 162 — meeting 

with Runjeet, 164, 165, 166 — Instructions for Commercial Treaty 

with Sindh^ 168. 
Bhaee Lal Singh, of Kythul, joins in soliciting British protection, 64— 

accompanies Colonel Ochterlony to Khuruk Sing's wedding, 90. 
Bhag Singh, Huloowala, serving with Runjeet, is imprisoned, 82 — and 

released, 83. 
Bhag Singh, of Jheend, invites Runjeet Singh to take part in a quarrel 

with Puteeala, 68 — alarmed at his encroachments, solicits British 

protection, 64 — accompanies Colonel Ochterlony to Khuruk Singh's 

wedding, 90. 
Bhoop Singh, Raja of Hureepoor, in the hills, expelled, 101* 
Bhya Ram Singh, Dewan of Khuruk Singh, 92 — employed against Kash* 

meer, 106— disgraced and mulcted, 112. 
BooDH Singh Bhugut, of Soojanpoor, exactions from him, 55. 
BooDH Singh, of Fyzoollapoor, exactions from him, 55 — his person 

secured, 78 — expelled, flies to Loodeeana, 86. 
Brij Raj Deo, eldest son of Runjeet Deo, of Jummoo, rebels and calls in 

Churut Singh, 38 — makes an exchange of Turbands with Maha 

Singh, 40— -succeeds to the Raj, his ill conduct, 43, ^- 



INDEX, 227 

BuHAWUL Khan succeeds his father, Sadiq Mohuminitd Khan, as Nuwab 
of Buhawalpoor, 144 — ^his reception of Lieutenant Bumes, 168. 

BuLBHUDUR Singh, Goorkhalee defendant of Nalapanee, slain in action 
with Yoosuf Zyes, 139. 

BcRNEs, Lieutenant — sent in charge of Horses to Lah6r, 154 — his diffi- 
culties in Sindh, 165, 156— sails up the Indus, 157, 158 — arrives at 
Lahor, 169. 

Churut Singh, ancestor of Runjeet Singh, 22 — defends Gujraolee against 
the Afghans, 23 — his Misul, 32 — takes part against the Jummoo 
Raja, 38— dies by the bursting of his matchlock, 39. 

Chyn Singh, Dewan of Puteeala, joined in a mission to Dehlee, to seek 
British protection, 64. 

Chyt Singh, joint Sirdar of Lahor, 51 — reduced by Runjeet, takes a 
Jageer, 52. 

x>. 

Desa Singh, Mujhitheea, employed in collecting hill tributes, 121-— 
crosses the Sutlej against Belaspoor, but is recalled, 122. 

Dheean Singh, Raja — Chamberlain of Runjeet, obtains a grant of Jum- 
moo, 125 — his great favor, 147^-aims to connect himself by marriage 
with Sunsar Chund, 148. 

Dhurum Singh, rebels against Maha Singh, is subdued, 40. 

DuL Singh, an associate of Churut Singh, 22 — instigates the putting to 
death of Runjeet Singh's mother and the Dewan Lukhoo, 49 — hifl 
disgrace and death, 56. 

DuL Singh Muherna, Jageerdar, employed by Runjeet Singh, 105, 108, 
109— destroys himself because reproached, 136, 137. 

Feeroz Khan, Chief of the Khutuk Moosalmans, 119 — ^makes terms with 
Runjeet, 119— his death, 137. 

FuTEH Khan, Sirdar of Saheewal, surrendera to Ruiyeet Singh, 79, 80 — 
liberated, 83. 

Futeh Khan, Vuzeer of Kabool, expels Shah Shooja, 79— conquers 
Kashmeer, 93, 94, 95 — his interview and treaty with Ruiyeet, 94— 
dissatisfied at the seizure of Attuk, 96— his action with Dewan 
Blokhum Chund at Attuk,. 99— recalled to the InduA; 101— put to 
death by Prince Kamrao, 117. 

2 £ S 



nu'^AjSAjL 



228 INDEX. 

FuTEH Sing, Aloowala, his friendship and exchange of torbands with 
Rnnjeet Singh, 53-^Joins in several enterprises, 54, 65, 56—left on 
the Chnnab, while Runjeet Singh goes to meet Joswunt Rao 
Holkur, 68 — grants made to him, 55, 62 — engagement made with 
him by Lord Lake, 58 — employed against Ooch, 111-— distmsts 
Ronjeet and flies across the Sutlej, but returns, 144. . . 

G. 

Ohunda Singh, successor of Jhunda Singh, as head of the Bhungee 

Sikhs, 40. 
GooLAB Singh, Bhungee Sirdar, heads a confederacy against Runjeet 

Singh, 52 — dies of hard drinking, his family stripped, 64. 
OooLAB Singh, brother of Oheean Singh, chamberlain, 126, 147. 
GooRDUT Singh, son of Goolab Singh Bhungee, expelled from Lohgurh 

and reduced to poverty, 54. 
GooRoo GoYiND, last Gooroo of the Sikhs, institutes the Pahul, 2 and 

Note. 

■ 

GujpuT Singh, of Jheend, his daughter marries Maha Singh, 41. 
Gundha Singh, son of Jodh Singh, of Vuzeerabad, pays a large price to 
secure his succession; 78 — is stripped of all, 81. 

H. 

Hafiz Ahmed Khan, Chief of Bhukur and Leeah, 110 — extortions from 
him, 111 — his country reduced, 129 — treaty with him faithfully 
observed, 130. 

Heera Singh, son of Dheean Singh, his favor with Runjeet Singh, 147, 
148. 

HoLKAR Mulhar Rao, his march to Lah6r to succour Adeena Beg Ehany 
16— defeated by a detachment of Abdalees, 18. 

— — — JuswuNT Rao, flies before Lord Lake to Lahdr, 67 — peace con- 
cluded there between him and the British Government, 58. 

HuREE Singh, Nalooa, appointed Governor of Kashmeer by Rni^jeety 
125 — removed for his severities, 129— employed against Mohummed 
Uzeem Khan at Peshawur, 139 — overpowered in the hills near Kash- 
meer, 141— sent on a mission to the Governor General at Shimla» 160. 

J. 

Jaroo Singh, Bhaee of the Sikhs, his Sumadh or tomb, 4. 
Jhunda Singh, Chief of the Bhungee Misul; 29— ally of the Ri^ of 
Jummoo; 39— assassinated; 40. . - ' 



INDEX. 229 

JoDH Singh, son of Jusa Sing of Ramgurb, gives an asylum to Rane0 
Sookha, 54, (Note)— Rnnjeet Singh's efforts to gain him, 60, (Note) 
— services, 86 — rebukes Runjeet for his rapacity, 87 — his brothers 
plundered, 113. 

JoDH Singh, of Vuzeerabad, his death, 78 — succeeded by Gundha 
Singh, 78. 

JuBUR Khan, brother of Futeh Khan Vuzeer, left Governor in Kash- 
meer, 118— defeated and expelled by Misur Dewan Chund, 123, 124. 

JuHAN Dad Khan, Governor of Attuk, betrays Shah Shooja, 92 — sur- 
renders Attuk to Runjeet Singh, 95, 96 — appointed by Runjeet 
Governor of Peshawur, 119— expelled, his further adventures, 120. 

JcsA Singh, Chief of the Ramgurheea Misul, 29— expelled by the Ghu- 
nceas, 44 — forms an alliance with Maha Singh, 45 — recovers hia 
possessions, 45. 

J USA Singh, of Cheniot, reduced by treachery, 53 — anecdote in respect 
to him, Note to 53. 

JuspuT Raee, brother of Lukhput Raee, killed in action by the Sikhs, 4. 
Jymul Ghuneea, Chief of Puthankot, his fort seized by Runjeet Singh, 
63 — and surrounding possessions, 76 — ^his daughter married to 
Khuruk Singh, 89, 90— his death, 92. 

Jy Singh, Atareewala, deserts to the Afghans, 131 — leagued with Mo- 
humed Uzeem Khan, 134 — returns to his allegiance, 137. 

Jv Singh, Chief of the Ghunee Sikhs, 29 — associates with Churut Singh 
in Jummoo affairs, 39 — with Maha Singh in the attack of Rusool- 
nugur, 41 — affronts Maha Singh, 44— combination against him, 45 — 
his son slain, he yieldS; 46 — dies in 1793, 48. 

K. 

Kabooi.ee Mul, Ahmed Shah's Governor of Lahdr, 26^-expelled by the 
Sikhs, 27. 

Kamran, Prince, son of Shah Muhmood, of Kabool, plots against and 
destroys Futeh Khan Vuzeer, 117, 118. 

Kaon R A Mul, appointed Dewan of Lahdr, vice Lukhput Raee, 6 — de- 
feats Shah Nuwaz Khan 10 — killed in action with the Dooranees, 
12 — his son and family find an asylum at Jummoo, 43, Note. 

Rhaja Ob yd, left by Ahmed Shah, Governor of Lahdr, 20 — ill sup* 
ported, 21— attacks Churut Singh in Gujraolee, and fails, 23. 

Khooshhal Singh, his rise to favor, 84, 85 — Runjeet's conduct to him 
and his brother, 113. 

Khuruk Singh, son of Ruqjeet Singh, his birth, 53— employed on various 
occasions; 84, 91, 123— his marriage, 90, 91— his mother disgraced 



"Za^ 



330 INDEX* 

and himself reprimanded, 112— commands nominally against Mool- 

tan, 114 — attends the meeting with the Governor General, 162. 
KooTUB-OoDDEEN, of Kasoor, 63 — succeeds his brother, 54 — attacked by 

Runjeet Singh, 60 — ^his application for British protection refused, 

145. 
KuMUR-OoDDEEN Khan, Yazcer of the Moghul Empire, uncle of the 

Soobadars of Lah6r, 5— dissuades his nephew from alliance with 

Ahmed Shah, 6— prepares to oppose Ahmed Shah, 7-»killed while 

at prayers, 8. 
KuRDM Singh, Raja of Pateeala, succeeds his father, Saheb Singh, 75, 

L. 

Lake, Lord — pursues Holkur to Lahdr, 58, 61. 

Lehna Singh, Lahdr assigned to him, 27. 

LuKHoo or Lukhput Singh, Dewan of Maha Singh, 48 — suspected of 

criminal intercourse with his widow, 49 — is circumyented and slain, 

49, and Note. 
LoKHPUT Raee, Dewan of Lahdr, his successes against the Sikhs, 4—' 

removed by Shah Nuwaz Khan, 5 — his son finds an asylum in Jum- 

moo, Note to page 43. 

M. 

• 

Maha Singh, son of Churut Sing, succeeds his father, 39— -early 
distinguishes himself, 40, 41 — attacks and captures Jummoo, 43-^ 
quarrels with Jy Singh, 44— is victorious over him, 4$— attacks 
Goojrat, 47 — dies in the expedition, 48 — his character, 48. 

Mehtab Koonwur, daughter of Suda Koonwur, and first wife of Rniyeet 
Singh, 46 — presents him with twins, 63. 

Malcolm, Sir John, Governor of Bombay, forwards the King's present 
to Runjeet Singh, 153, 154 — withholds information that the present 
is Royal, 158, Note. 

Meer Moorad Ulee, Chief of Sindh, his conduct towards Lieutenant; 
Bumes, 155, 156~account of him, 157 — Colonel Pottinger sent envoy 
to him, 170, 171~Treaties with him, 172 to 175. 

Meer Munoo, son of Kumur-Ooddeen Vuzeer, distinguishes himself in 
action with the Abdalees, 8 — Governor of Lah^r captures Ram 
Rounee from the Sikhs, 9 — makes terms with Ahmed Shah, 9^ 10— >. 
defeats Shah Nuwaz Khan's attempt on Labor, 10— again attacked 
by Ahmed Shah, 11— -is defeated and submits, 12^-his deatb| 
his widow attempts to maintain herself^ 14, 



INDEX. 231 

Meer Roostum Khan, Chief of Khyrpoor, Ids reception of Lieutenant 
Bumes, 167 — treaty with him, 176, 177. 

Metcalfe, Sir Charles, British Envoy to Lah6r, 65 — treatment of him 
by Runjeet, 66 — his Camp attacked by Akalee fanatics, 68 — treaty 
concluded by him with Runjeet Singh, 69. 

MisuLs of the Sikhs, recapitulation of them, 29 to 32. 

Mjsur Dewan Chund, commands at Mooltan, 114 — takes it, 115 — leads 
second expedition against Kashmeer, 122 — conquers the valley, 124 
— further employment, 134. 

MoHKUM Chund Dewan, enters the service of Runjeet Singh, Note to 
page 63 — employed in resumptions, 64, 82, 84 — his advice to Run- 
jeet, 91 — employed with Futeh Khan Yuzeer against Kashmeer, 
95 — brings back Shah Shooja, 93, 96 — defeats Futeh Khan Yuzeer at 
Attuk, 99, 100— his death and character, 108. 

MoHUMMUD UzEEM Khan, brother of Futeh Khan Yuzeer, Governor of 
Kashmeer, 98 — his defence against Runjeet Singh, 106 — generosity 
to Mohkum Chund*s grandson, 107 — takes the lead after his brother's 
death, 118 — leaving Jubur Khan in Kashmeer, 123 — ^marches to 
Peshawur to oppose Runjeet Singh, 137 — retires, 139 — hisdeath, 140* 

MooRCROFT, Mr. visits Lah6r, 126 — obtains the papers of a Russian Envoy 
to Runjeet, 143. 

Mora, a Courtezan, her shameless conduct, 85. 

MoTEE Ram, son of Dewan Mohkum Chund, made Governor of Kash« 
meer, 124 — removed, 126 — re-appointed, 120^his father's Jage^r» 
resumed, 143 — sent on mission to Lord Bentinck, 160. 

Mozcffur Khan, of Mooltan, makes presents to Runjeet Singh, 56, 61, 
92 — is besieged, 80 — the siege fails, 81— conduct towards Shah 
Shooja, Note to page 79 — ^besieged again, 114, 115— killed in the 
storm, 116. 

N. 

NiDiiAN Singh, of Huttoo or Athoo, is reduced and imprisoned, contrary 

to treaty, 82— released, 83. 
NiDHAN Singh, son of Jy Singh Ghuneea, receives a Jageer instead of 

the succession, 46— his Jageer resumed, 86. 
NiJABUT Khan, slain in defence of Koonjpoora against Mahrattas, 19. 
NoDH Singh, ancestor of Runjeet Singh, 22. 
Nou NiHAL Singh, son of Khuruk Singh, his birth, 129— sent to give the 

Istuqbal to Futeh Singh Aloowala, 144. 
Nljeeb-Ood-Doula, joins Ahmed Shah against the Mahrattas, 18« 



rr^^rz 



232 INDEX. 

Nujum-Ood-Oeen, of Kasoor, makes terms with Ronjeet Singh, 5S — is 
assassinated, 54. 

OcHTERLONY, Colonel— Commands the force, advanced to the Sutlej, 71— 
his arrangements with protected Sikhs, 72, 74 — deposes the Putee- 
ala Raja, 74 — his life attempted, 75, 76 — attends Khuruk Singh's 
wedding, 89 to 91. 

P. 

Phoola Singh, Akalee fanatic, attacks Sir C. T. Metcalfe's camp, 68— 
commits excesses in Hafiz Ahmed's country. 111 — Skilled in action 
with Yoosuf Zyes, 138. 

PoTTiNGER, Colonel — British Agent in Kuchh, negociates Lieutenant 
Bumes' reception in Sindh, 154, 155 — sent Envoy there, 168 — nego- 
ciates Commercial Treaties, 169 to 174. 

R. 

Ram Dyal, grandson of Dewan Mohkum Chund, employed against 
Kashmeer, 105 — generous conduct of Mohumed Uzeem Khan to 
him, 107 — further employment, 108, 109 — skilled in action in Kash- 
meer, 125. 

RooHOOLLAH Khan, Raja of Poonch, 105 — attacks Runjeet's camp, 107 — 
his posts carried by Misur Dewan Chund, 128. 

RuNJEET Deo, Raja of Jummoo, in the hills, gained by Ahmed Shah, 26 
— his son rebels, 38 — his death, 43, and Note to ditto. 

Runjeet Singh — his birth and early danger from small pox, 42 — marries 
the daughter of Suda Koonwur, 46 — and a daughter of the Nukee 
Sirdar, 48 — {(^sumes the Government from his mother and her Dewan, 
49 — intrigues and takes Lahdr, 52 — ^maintains himself against a con- 
federacy, 53 — makes divers acquisitions, 54, 55, 56 — conduct to- 
wards Holkur and Lord Lake, 58 — crosses the Sutlej, 59 — takes 
Kasoor, 60 — ^marches to Puteeala, 61, 62 — mission of Sir C. T« 
Metcalfe to him, 65 — treaty concluded with him, 69 — ^takes Kangra^ 
76, 77 — besieges Mooltan, 80 — present to him from Lord Minto, 84 — 
profligacy, 85 — extortions, 86, 87 — invites Colonel Ochterlony to his 
son's wedding, 89, 91 — operations in the hills and designs on Kash- 
meer, 93, 94 — gains Attuk, 95 — obtains the Kohi-Noor Diamond, 
98 — first expedition against Kashmeer, 105 to 107 — exactions, 108 to- 
111 — reprimands Khuruk Singh and punishes his mother. Up- 
takes Mooltan, 114, 115 — ^makes his army disgorge its plunder, 116, 



INDEX. 333 

117— first advance to Peshawur, 119--conqiiers Kashmeer, 122, 123, 
124 — intrigues against Suda Koonwnr, 127-^di8graces and plun- 
ders her, 128 — takes Mnnkera, 130 — entertains French Ofiicers, 131, 
133 — second expedition to Peshawur, 137— captures it, 139 — ^his 
favorites, 85, 113, 148^present of cart horses to him, 152 — his re- 
ception of Lieutenant Bumes with them, 158, 159 — agrees to meet 
the Governor General, 160 — meeting, 162 to 166 — his character and 
resources, 178 to 190. 

S. 

Saheb Singh, of Goojrat, succeeds his father and is besieged by Maha 
Singh, 47 — leagued against Runjeet Singh, 62 — flies his country, 
78 (Note) — accepts a Jageer, 83. 

Saheb Singh, Raja of Puteeala, succeeds his father Umur Singh, 59 — 
Runjeet Singh interferes in his quarrel with the Naba and other 
Chiefs, 59 — his quarrel with his wife, 61 — again visited by Runjeet, 
62 — exchanges turbands with him, 66 — deposed by Colonel Ochter- 
lony, 74 — his death, 75. 

Seyud Ahmed, a Moosulman reformer, his rise, 145, 146 — defeated, 146 — ' 
re-appears and gains a victory, 149 — masters Peshawur, 150— is de- 
serted and expelled by the Yoosuf Zyes, 150 — slain in action, 161. 

Shah Zu MAN, succeeds Shah Tymoor at Kabool, 60 — invades the Punjab 
and loses his guns, 51 — retires across the Indus, 79 — and to Lah6r, 
87, 92 — pensioned at Loodeeana, 103. 

Shah Nuwaz Khan, usurps the Soobadaree of Lah6r, 6--expelIed by 
Ahmed Shah, 6 — attempts Lahdr against Meer Munoo, but is defeat- 
ed and slain, 10. 

Shah Shooja, son of Tymoor Shah, 66 — retires into the Punjab, 79 — 
fails in an enterprize to recover his dominions, 87 — second failure, 92 
— the Kohi-Noor Diamond extorted from him, 96, 97, 98 — further 
ill usage, 101 — his wives and family escape to Loodeeana, 102^ 
himself also, 103. 

Sheer Singh, presented to Runjeet as bom of his wife Mehtab Koonwnr, 
63 — claims a separate establishment, 127 — employed in the expedi- 
tion to Peshawur, 139 — routs and slays Seyud Ahmed, 150, 161. 

Shooja-Ood-Docla, Nuwab of Oudh, Joins Ahmed Shah, 18. 

Sindheea-Duttajee, defeated and slain by a detachment of Abdalees, 18. 

SooLTAN Khan, Chief of Bhimbur, usurps the Raj and resists Runjeet 
Singh, 91 — imprisoned and reduced, 94, 101, 109 — released and em- 
ployed in the second expedition against Kashmeer, 123. 

2 p 



mtiitiif^''''-" 



284 INDBX. 

SooKH Jeewun, a Hindoo in Ahmed Shah's senrice, ll-— appointed Go- 
vernor of Kashmeer, 13 — rebels, is redaced, and blinded, 26. 

ScDA KooNWUR, widow' of Goor Bnkhsh Singh of Ghunee, 46— marries 
her daughter to Runjeet Singh, 46 — succeeds to the Sirdaree of the 
Ghunees, 48 — ^adviser of Runjeet Singh, 49 — aids in the conquest 
of Labor, 50, 61 — exactions from her dependents, 61 — ^presents Run- 
jeet with twins, declared to be bom of her daughter, 6S — ^not at 
Khuruk Singh's wedding, 90 — intrigues against her, 187 — her fall 
and imprisonment, 128 — question as to her right to protection for 
territory South of the Sutlej, 134, 135. 

ISuDA Sheeo Rao Bhao, leads the Mahratta army sent against Ahmed 
Shah, 19— slain in the battle of Paneeput, 20. 

SoNSAR Chund, Ri^a of Kangra, invades the Turaee, 54, 55 — pressed by 
Goorkhas, solicits aid from Runjeet Singh, 60 — loses Kangra, 76, 
77— employed in collecting tributes for Runjeet, 121— his death^ 141. 

T. 

Tara Singh Ghyba, head of the Dooleeala Misul, 30— extortions on him 
by Runjeet Singh, 55, 60— dies while serving with Ruqjeet, 62— his 
family plundered, 63. 

Tara Singh, twin brother of Sheer Singh, alleged sons of Mehtab Koon- 
wur, 63. 

Tymoor, son of Ahmed Shah, left Governor of Lahdr, 15 — expelled by 
the Mabrattas, 16 — succeeds to the Throne of Kabool, 28^<iie8, and 
is succeeded by Shah Zuman, 50 — dissensions among his sons, 56. 

U. 

Umur Singh, Raja of Puteeala, 27^btains titles from Ahmed Shah, 
27, 28— anecdote of him. Note to page 27 — succeeded by Saheb 
Singh, 59. 

Umur Singh Thapa, Goorkha Commandant, invades Kangra, 60— be- 
sieges it, 76^is foiled, and retires across the Sutlej, 77 and Note- 
campaign of Colonel Ochterlony against him, 109. 

Unrodh Chund, Raja of Kangra, succeeds his father Sunsarchund, 141— 
visits Lahdr and flies to British territory to avoid a degrading con« 
nexion, 148. 

Uzeez-Ood*Deen, Fuqeer and Hukeem, employed on confidential mis- 
sions by Runjeet Singh, 96, 137, 160. 



INDEX. S35 

V. 

VcFA Begum, wife of Sbah Shooja, received into Mooltan, 79, Not^- 
brought to Lahdr by Shah Zuman, 92— ciyoled by Ru^jeet Singb^ 
93 — severities on her to extort jewels, 96— escapes to Loodeeana, 
102. 

Ventura, M onsr., a French Officer in Runjeet's service, his arrival at 
Lah6r, 131, 132 — employment, 133— saves Peshawur critically, 149. 

Wade, Captain — British Agent at Loodeeana, discrepancies between his 
account and Captain Murray's, 40, 49, 52, 53 — sent on a mission to 
Labor by Lord Amherst, 147->-invited to Lahdr to meet Lieutenant 
Burnes, 159 — negociates meeting of Runjeet with the Governor 
General, 160. 

Wis WAS Rao, son of the Peshwa, 19— killed at Paneeput, 20. 

Y. 

Yar Mohummed Khan, Governor of Peshawur, 119— expelled by Run- 
jeet, recovers the city, 119 — submits to pay tribute, 137 — retires from 
Mohumud Uzeem Khan, 137 — restored by Runjeet Singh, 140— 
summoned to the Indus, 142 — killed inaction with Seyud Ahmed, 149. 

YuHEEA Khan, son of Zukureea Khan, Viceroy of Lahdr, 2 — attempts to 
put down the Sikhs, 4 — is ejected by his brother Shah Nawas 
Khan, 5 — flies to his uncle the Vuzeer at Dehlee, 5. 

Z. 

Zyn Khan, left by Ahmed Shah Governor of Sirhind, 20— engages the 
Sikhs and is critically supported by Ahmed Shah, 24— killed in 
action near Sirhind, 26. 



THE END. 



Printed at the Bengal Military Orphan Press, by G. H. HtUtmann. 



ftflF MEMO; OP HMRY THWY PRIHSBP ( JK>ST I. KAMBljt) 
TAtBO PROM THB TIMSS MAKCH IZTi 1874. 



THE INDIAN COUNCIL. 



We referred on the 10th inst. to some rumoured 
changes in the Indian Council, and have now to 
announce that Mr, Prinsep had then already placed 
his resignation in the hands of Lord Salisbury, by 
whom, after some delay, it has been accepted. Mr. 
Prinsep, who has thus concluded a service of 65 
years either in India itself or in the Home Govern- 
ment of India, is one of the must distinguished men 
, whom even the Indian Civil Service — prolific in ac- 
! complished administrators — has produced. In the 
I course of liis long career he had filled nearly all the 
most important posts in the Indian Government, 
and always with distinction* 

His service in India began in 1809, when he 
went to Bengal as a Writer, being one of 
the new School of Civil Servants provided by the 
College recently established by the Court of Di- 
rectors at Hertford and Haileybury. He held 
a distinguished place among them, and after the 
usual initiatory career, which was passed at the close 
of Lord Minto'a Administration, he was selected to 
accompany Lord Hastings in his first tour through 
the Proviiicea, From that time he was consecu- 
tively attached to the Secretariat or to offices in 
close and confidential relation with the head of the 
Government. He was employed on several Missions 
to inquire into alleged grievances and suggest 
remedies when symptoms of mal-ad ministration 
were apparent, notably in 1819, when the land 
tenures of Burdwan fell into such confusion as to 
interfere with the collection of land revenue. The 
law he suggested and framed for the correction of 
tliis mischief still stands unaltered in the code of 
the Presidency as the charter of Putnee tenant-right. 

In 1822 he received from Lord Hastings the ap- 
pointment of Persian Secretary, and in 1823 filled 
Mr. Butterworth Bayley's place as Judicial Secre- 
tary when that gentleman was appointed temporary 
member of Council. Upon the arrival of Lord Am- 
herst as Governor-General, when that temporary 
employment ceased, he took a furlough to Europe, 
and on his return found a Secretaryship awaiting 
him, first in the territorial, and afterwrards in the 
public or general dtjpartment, to which the financial 
was added upon Mr. Holt Mackenzie's retire- 
ment. Upon the arrival of Lord William Ben- 
tinck he accompanied that Governor-General 
in his visit to the recently acquired Burmese 
territory and to the Eastern settlements, and 
was selected to accompany him as Political and 
Financial Secretary in the tour of inspection he 
undertook in 1830-31. He was, hotvever, too inde- 
pendent in his views of policy,and too ready to state 
his opinions, which were always Conservative, to 
agree long with Lord W, Bentinck, and after 18 
months' service in his camp, his health having 
suUered, he returned to Calcutta and Vesumed Ids 
ortico there. He was very soon, however, com- 
pelled to take a voyage to sea for his health, when 
he visited the colony of Van Diemen's Land or 
Tasmania, then of recent establishment. On his 
return in 1834 a new Constitution had been provided 



for India by the Act of 'Parliameiit* paaaed'in 1833, 
but the Governor-Genen^ was at Ootacamund, in 
the south of India, and unable, therefore, to give it 
full etlect until the end of the year)1834. In the mea- 
sures adopted for this purpose Mr. Prinse^ took a 
prominent part, not always in accordance with the 
views of the Governor-GeneraU But Lord William 
Bentinck was by this time on the eve of his return 
to Europe, and when be tinally went, in the early 
part of 1835, Mr. Prinsep was called by Sir Charles, 
afterwards Lord Metcalfe, to fill the vacant 
seat m Council occasioned by Lord William's 
departure. This appointment was not confirmed by 
the Court of Directors, who preferred the claims of 
seniority, and it was not until 1840 that Mr. 
Prinsep obtained a permanent seat iu the Supreme 
Council. Lord Auckland was then Governor- 
General, and the Expedition into Afghanistan had 
extended the British arms and influence over the 
length and breadth of that kingdom. Mr. Prinsep's 
views on the subject of that Expedition were 
opposed to those of the Governor-General, and he 
advised an armed demonstration in support of and 
in alliance with the existing Government of Ameer 
Dost Mahomed, instead of attempting to super- 
sede that ruler and re-establish the ejected IQnsr 
Shah Shoojah. But his advice came too late. Lord 
Auckland, unable to make up his mind to permit 
his Agent, IVIajor Bums, to accede to Dost Maho- 
med's urgent request for such support, had com- 
pelled that chief to look for aid from Russia, and to 
accept the assurances of safety and support con- 
veyed tlirough the Russian Agent Viokovitch. The 
result was that tlie Russo-Persian attack on Herat 
was foiled, and Shah Shoojah was re-established at 
Kandahar and K&bul by British arms. After two 
years of success, however, a reactionary spirit was 
excited iu the population, and in the winter of 
181()-4l our isolated troops at K4bul were sur- 
rounded and their supplies cut off. The entire force 
was destroyed in the attempt to return to 
Hindostan, and of the army of occupation two 
garrisons only remained at Jellalabad and 
(jandahar, which the inclemency of the season inado 
it iinpussiblo to reinforce or bring away. This was 
the condition of things when Lord Auckland left 
India and wan succeeded by Lord EUenborough in 
I the be<riiinin£^ of 181'J. The ollnrts made to restore 
the inlluenco of tiio Britisli aruis in Afi^hanintan 
and tlie events which followed are sutlioiently 
known. 

In February, 1813, Mr. Prinsep returned to 
Knudanti and otfered liimself as a c;uididate for the 
East Indian Direction, but he was not elected 
until 18«!L WIkmi the constitution of that body 
wa-i cliaiiL(ed in 18.')3,and a^^ain in 1858, the number 
of the elected Directors benii; reduced fromSO first to 
15 and t\ut\\ to eight by ballot among themselves, 
he survived the double sacrifice. On the transfer 
in 18'>8 of tlie powers o: the Eftit India Company 
to tlio Crown ha was nominated a member of the 
Council ot India, nnd he hns remained a member 
until now. Few men in any cireer caa ahow a 
better record of good and consoientious vuric ' 






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